KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent (AP) – Leaders of the volcanic St. Vincent said Tuesday that water is running low because it is heavily polluting supplies, and they estimate that the eastern Caribbean island will need hundreds of millions of dollars to recover from the La Soufriere eruption.
Between 16,000 and 20,000 people have been evacuated from the northern region of the island, where the exploding volcano is located, of which more than 3,000 are housed at more than 80 government shelters.
Dozens of people stood in line on Tuesday for water or to raise money sent by friends and family abroad. Among those standing in one crowd was retired police officer Paul Smart.
“The volcano caught us with our underpants and it’s very devastating,” he said. ‘No water, no dust in our house. We thank God that we are alive, but we need more help at the moment. ”
Premier Ralph Gonsalves told a news conference on local station NBC Radio that St. Vincent will need hundreds of millions of dollars to recover from the eruption, but gives no details.
He added that no casualties had been reported since the first major eruption of the volcano early Friday. “We have to try to keep the record,” he said. Gonsalves said some people have refused to leave communities closest to the volcano, urging them to evacuate.
Ash and falling floods destroyed crops and polluted water reservoirs. Garth Saunders, minister of the island’s water and sewerage authority, noted that some communities have not yet received water.
“The winding (eastern) coast is our biggest challenge today,” he said during the press conference about the efforts to deploy water trucks. ‘What we offer is a limited amount. We’ll run out sometime. ”
The prime minister said people in some shelters needed food and water, and he thanked neighboring countries for transporting items, including cots, breathing masks and water bottles and tanks. In addition, the World Bank has given $ 20 million to the government of St. Vincent pays out as part of an interest-free disaster financing program.
Adam Billing, a retired police officer who inhabited and cared for his crops on land near the volcano, said he has more than 3 acres of plantains, tannias, yams and a variety of fruits, and he estimates he has more than $ 9,000 worth of lost crops.
“Everything that (means) livelihood is gone. Everything, ”said Billing, who was evacuated. “We have to look at the next few months because this is not going to be an instant solution from the government.”
The volcano, which has had a low-level eruption since December, experienced the first of several major explosions on Friday morning, and according to volcanologists, the activity could last for weeks.
Another blast was reported Tuesday morning, sending another massive ash plume into the air. It comes on the occasion of the 1979 eruption, the last one produced by the volcano until Friday morning. About 1,600 people died in a previous eruption in 1902.
“It’s still a pretty dangerous volcano,” Richard Robertson told the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center. “It can still cause serious damage.”
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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press videographer Orvil Samuel contributed to this report.