SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Empty cruise ships would be stranded on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Louis on Friday. Vincent arrives to transport thousands of people who have evacuated their homes under the fiery glow of La Soufrière volcano, which officials say could erupt at any moment.
Shelters filled overnight as people living in the northern part of the island sought safer ground under government orders, with a string of car lights twinkling through the dark dark mountains.
“They’re getting pretty good at it,” Doris McIntosh, deputy manager of one shelter, said in a telephone interview. However, she noted that meals are not yet served. “Because of evacuations that are happening fast, some things are out of place.”
About 16,000 people live in the red zone and need evacuation, Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center, told the Associated Press.
Premier Ralph Gonsalves urged people not to panic amid serious warnings from experts.
“An explosive phase of the eruption may start with little warning,” the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Center said in a statement.
Many were concerned that evacuation efforts would be hampered by the pandemic, and Gonsalves noted that cruise ships and other islands would require evacuators to be vaccinated. He also said he is working with other governments in the Caribbean to ensure they can accept an ID card because not everyone has a passport.
“It’s an emergency, and everyone understands it,” he said.
He said two Royal Caribbean cruise ships and two Carnival Cruise Line are expected to arrive Friday. Islands that said they would accept evacuees include St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Antigua.
Gonsalves added that he strongly recommends that those who prefer to go to a shelter in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to go, an island chain of more than 100,000 people, needs to be vaccinated.
Scientists have warned the government of a possible eruption after noticing some kind of seismic activity at 3am on Thursday, indicating that “magma is moving near the surface,” Joseph said.
“Things are increasing rapidly,” she said of the volcanic activity, adding that it was impossible to give an exact prediction of what would happen in the next hours or days.
A team from the seismic center met in St. Louis in late December. Vincent arrived after the volcano had an eruption. They analyzed, among other things, the formation of a new volcanic dome, changes to the crater lake, seismic activity and gas release.
The volcano last erupted in 1979, and a previous eruption in 1902 killed about 1,600 people.
The eastern Caribbean Islands are home to other active volcanoes. Seventeen of the 19 living volcanoes in the region are located on 11 islands, with the remaining two underwater near the island of Grenada, including one called Kick ‘Em Jenny which has been active for the past year.
Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which has been erupting continuously since 1995, is the most active volcano in the region, destroying the capital of Plymouth and killing at least 19 people in 1997.