KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent (AP) – La Soufriere volcano fired a huge amount of ash and hot gas early Monday in the largest explosive eruption since volcanic activity began last week on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent (AP). Vincent, with officials concerned about the lives of those who refused to evacuate.
Experts call it a ‘big explosion’ that generates pyroclastic currents along the south and southwest sides of the volcano.
“It destroys everything in its path,” Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center, told The Associated Press. “Anyone who has not responded to the evacuation must get out immediately.”
There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths, but government officials were responding to the latest eruption, which was even bigger than the first eruption that took place on Friday morning. About 16,000 people living in communities near the volcano were evacuated on Thursday under government orders, but an unknown number remained behind and refused to move.
Richard Robertson, with the seismic research center, told local station NBC Radio that the volcano’s old and new dome had been destroyed and that a new crater had been created. He said the pyroclastic currents would magnify everything in their path.
“Anything that was there, human, animal, anything … they’re gone,” he said. “And it’s a terrible thing to say.”
Joseph said the latest explosion is equivalent to the one that occurred in 1902 and killed about 1,600 people. The volcano last erupted in 1979. As due to the ongoing explosions, Barbados and other nearby islands fell.
One government minister who toured the northeastern region of the island on Sunday said he was left with an estimated two to three dozen people in the Sandy Bay community alone, who asked Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves to encourage people to leave. .
“It’s over time that you leave,” he said. “It’s dangerous.”
The ongoing volcanic activity threatened water and food supplies, with the government forced to drill fresh water and distribute it via trucks.
“We cannot place sail across a river,” said Garth Saunders, minister of the island’s water and sewerage authority, referring to the impossibility of trying to protect current water resources from persistent falling ash.
He told NBC Radio that officials are also trying to set up water distribution points.
Meanwhile, Gonsalves said government officials were meeting Monday afternoon to talk about problems with food supplies.
Deputy Prime Minister Montgomery Daniel told the radio station that the damage was great in the northeastern region of the island, after which he toured on Sunday. Forests and farms were wiped out, with coconut, breadfruit, mango and sourdough trees, as well as plantain and banana crops.
“What I saw was indeed terrible,” he said.
Cradles, tents, water tanks and other basic supplies went to St. Vincent flowed when nearby nations rushed to help those affected by the eruptions. At least four empty cruise ships hovered nearby and waited to take evacuated to other islands that agreed to receive it temporarily, including Antigua and Grenada. Gonsalves, however, said he expects his administration to be able to call off the cruise ships, as it looks like the vast majority of people are in St. Vincent going home.
He told NBC Radio on Sunday that his government would do everything possible to help those forced to leave their homes in ash-filled communities.
“This is a major operation we are facing,” he said. “It’s going to be expensive, but I do not want us to pinch a penny … it’s going to be a long time.”
Gonsalves said it could take four months before life returns to normal in St. Louis. Vincent, who is part of an island chain that includes the Grenadines. The majority of the 100,000 residents live in St. Louis. Vincent.
The pandemic is also hampering response efforts. At least 14 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since the eruptions began Friday, and all who go to shelters are being tested. Those who test positive are taken to isolation centers. More than 3,700 people are in 84 government shelters.
The eastern Caribbean Islands have 19 living volcanoes, of which 17 are located on 11 islands. The remaining two are located underwater near Grenada, including one called Kick ‘Em Jenny who has been active in recent years. The most active volcano of all is Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which has erupted continuously since 1995, destroying the capital of Plymouth and killing at least 19 people in 1997.
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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico