Guyana pledges full support to St Vincent over looming destructive volcano eruption

…PM Gonsalves issues evacuation order

President Dr Irfaan Ali has reached out to Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, and pledged Guyana’s full and unwavering support as the island-state deals with a looming volcano eruption.
Following several days of increasing eruptive activities at the La Soufriere volcano on the island of St Vincent, Prime Minister Gonsalves on Thursday declared a red alert and issued an evacuation order.
In a statement, President Ali said he discussed with his Head of State colleague immediate support which will be required in the response.
“The Prime Minister indicated that apart from the need to evacuate citizens, there were other emergency material needs. I committed to him that Guyana, upon receiving the full list of their needs, would immediately put together a national response to supply the items and arrange for them to be shipped to St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” President Ali noted.
During an emergency press briefing late on Thursday afternoon, Prime Minister Gonsalves invoked the country’s National Emergence and Disaster Management Act to order the evacuation of all premises in the area designated as the Red Zone in the northeast and northwest of St Vincent, as well as the evacuation the areas themselves.

The evacuation order also speaks to the exclusion of persons, vessels or vehicles from such premises and areas, save and except for the purpose of effecting the evacuation.
“This order would be published tomorrow (Friday) but it has effect immediately…So there is now in the country an Evacuation Order. All arrangements have now kickstarted and the [evacuation] process begins,” the St Vincent Head of State posited.
According to PM Gonsalves, this decision was taken based upon advice from Head of the country’s National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO), Michelle Forbes, and from University of the West Indies (UWI) Seismic Research Centre (UWI-SRC) Geologist Professor Richard Robertson.
The St Vincent Head of State further stated, “I want to urge all our people to be calm. Do not panic, be disciplined, be orderly.”
He went on to reveal that Royal Caribbean had offered three of its ships to assist with the evacuation. Two of these, he noted, are expected to arrive this morning, followed by the third subsequently.
Additionally, the Prime Minister noted that the Carnival Cruise Line has also indicated that, by this evening, two of its cruise ships would be in the country to transport evacuees.
“The cruise ships of Royal Caribbean will be first used to transport the persons from St Vincent and the Grenadines who are to be evacuated to other countries in the region who have offered temporary hospitality; namely, St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Antigua,” Gonsalves announced.
He added the British Virgin Islands have also offered assistance, which is yet to be capitalised on.
In addition to support from Guyana, the St Vincent PM further disclosed, Trinidad and Tobago has also pledged support of materials, while St. Kitts and Nevis has also offered to accommodate citizens if needed. Montserrat, too, has extended its support to the island-state.

Earlier in the day, PM Gonsalves had declared a disaster alert which was prompted by a change in the eruptive activity at the La Soufriere volcano.
At the time, UWI’s Geologist Professor Richard Robertson had cautioned that preparations should be finalised for possible evacuation within very short notice, as the new signals have significantly increased the possibility of an explosive eruption, which it was noted could be in hours or days’ time.
It was reported that at approximately 3:00am local time on Thursday, volcanic tremor (VT) was observed by scientists based at the Belmont Observatory in St. Vincent. This first band of tremor was later followed by subsequent bands at 5:30am, 8:00am, 10:15am and 1pm. This type of seismic signal is usually associated with movement of magma and fluids close to the surface. Clouds of steam could also be seen from the observatory during the periods of tremor.
However, at Thursday evening’s emergency news conference, Professor Robertson explained that there has since been further heightened activity at the La Soufriere volcano.

“The significant thing that has changed since the last briefing, though, is that the last tremor was accompanied by piers of gas venting, significant pulsing of volcano where it looks clearly like if it’s – for want of a better word – trying to clear its throat… At this point, we cannot say for sure and cannot give any further clear warning that nothing would happen within the next 24 to 48 hours.”
However, the Geologist noted that it would not be surprising if there are explosions from the volcano at a much more significant level.
“We seem to be clearly heading into something that might be explosive, and therefore need to take necessary actions to safeguard life and limb,” Professor Robertson posited.
Local media outlet in St Vincent and the Grenadines, News 784, reported on Thursday evening that the dome had reached the height of the crater on the western (leeward side) of the island. It further noted that from that side of the island, the glow/fiery look of the dome was seen as it got darker. (G8)