La Soufriere Eruption

Since Friday, 9 April, we have been watching and reading of the horrors that La Soufriere volcano has been spewing out on the small Caribbean island of St. Vincent. After months of monitored activity, and a rather large lava dome measuring over 105 meters high, 243 meters wide and 921 meters long, disaster struck.

On Friday morning, just after 8:30, the volcano blew. This wasn’t the type of volcanic eruption that you may imagine with hot lava oozing down the sides of the volcano. No. Not at all. This was an explosive eruption, spewing gas, rocks, and ash high into the air with the ash plume reaching as high as 9,800 meters.

On Tuesday, 13 April, La Soufriere marked her anniversary of 42 years since her last eruption in 1979 with large explosion that morning.

It is now Thursday, 15 April. La Soufriere is still making her presence known with tremors, explosive eruptions with airborne boulders and rocks, and pyroclastic density flows and currents that rush down the valleys and flatten everything in their path. These flows are extremely hot: 200 to 700 degrees Celsius. The pyroclastic flows are fatal — research the eruptions at Mt. Vesuvius and Mount St. Helens.

Thankfully, most of the people living in the designated red zone (most dangerous zone) were evacuated before the volcano erupted. Knowing human nature, you will likely question if some people chose to stay behind. The answer is yes. While neither of us would have chosen to stay, we are not here to condemn or criticize the people who have remained. Everyone has their reasons for making their decisions.

Many of these people who have chosen to stay behind are recording the events with their mobile phones and sharing videos and photos on social media outlets. Through these accounts, we are able to see the full destruction of La Soufriere. Homes are damaged. Roads and bridges are gone. Land and farms are destroyed. It’s devastating.

The southern part of the island, while safe from the volcano, is being plummeted with large amounts of ash. People who evacuated the northern parts of the island are in shelters. Ash has compromised the island’s fresh water sources. People with breathing problems are struggling. Supplies are in short supply.

We have had the opportunity to visit the island of St. Vincent. We met and spent time with people who welcomed us with open arms and shared the beauty of their island with us. Since Friday, we have constantly been thinking of Red Eye (Gary), Rosi and Orlando, and the many others we met during our time in Kearton’s Bay. We desperately hope they are all safe. Even though we are far away, our hearts have screamed at us to reach out and help in some way.

The island and her people need our help. They need drinking water, food, basic living supplies.

In our search for a trustworthy way to send a donation for these items, we have found the organization “Action Bequia”. A reliable organization that has been focused on raising awareness and donations to support environmental projects on the small island of Bequia, which is a part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Most recently, the organization has been supplying pandemic relief to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Now, they are raising donations for volcano disaster relief.

Here is a list of items that donations are going towards. This list has been provided to Action Bequia from St. Vincent’s National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO).

We know times are tough. Money is tight. If you are able to donate–even a small amount will make a difference–please consider donating to the people of St. Vincent. Even when the volcano has ceased to erupt, many of the people will have no homes to go back to. No places to return to work. They will have lost everything.

Please, consider making a donation to Action Bequia. And keep the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in your thoughts and prayers.

https://www.actionbequia.org