Tomorrow, Saturday April 9th will mark one year since the explosive eruptions of La Soufriere volcano, which saw the nation covered in ash and 20,000 people evacuate from their homes.
Earlier this week on VC3’s Roundtable Talk Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves reflected on last year’s natural disaster that occurred in the midst of SVG’s battle against COVID-19.
During his reflection the Prime Minister drew comparisons between La Soufriere’s eruptions in 1902, 1979 and 2021.
The Prime Minister first spoke about last year’s eruption.
“We evacuated one fifth of the population—20,000. In all those shelters and private homes, and guesthouses, and hotels and the like; not one person got injured, not one person died” he said.
Prime Minister Gonsalves then goes on speak about the volcanic eruption that occurred in 1902.
“in 1902 2000 persons died, in fact people were in the fields, both in the leeward and windward sides on the plantations when Soufriere blew. There wasn’t an advanced notice other than what people saw with their own eyes—that steam was coming out—and thought that something was imminent”
The Prime Minister then made mention of the difference in severities of three volcanic eruptions.
“And bare this in mind too; the volcanic eruption in 1902 was—in category terms if you were to put them as how you put categories to a hurricane—a three to four, as this thing from a five in 2021, in the exclusivity index, 2021 was far more serious [eruption] than 1902 and certainly far more than that of 1979” he said.
La Soufrière began an effusive eruption on December 27th 2020. On 9 April 2021 there was an explosive eruption, and the volcano “continued to erupt explosively” over the following days, with pyroclastic flows.
