The Eruption of La Soufriere volcano at the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent has begun, rumbling being heard & ash clouds can be seen for miles. Last evening the government gave the alert for all residents in the Red zone to evacuate.
Shelters filled up 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 darkened mountains.
“They are settling in quite nicely,” Doris McIntosh, deputy manager of one shelter, said in a phone interview. She noted, though, that meals were not being served yet. “Because of rushed evacuations, some things are not in place.”
Roughly 16,000 people live in the red zone and required evacuation, Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center, told The Associated Press.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves urged people not to panic amid dire warnings from experts.
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