La Soufriere Volcano Update: Alert level downgraded to orange

In keeping with a recommendation from scientists at the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI-SRC), the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines has downgraded the island’s volcanic alert level from red to orange.

This was declared on May 6, 2021, almost a month after the red alert was instituted due to eruptions at the island’s La Soufriere volcano.

According to UWI-SRC reports, La Soufriere has had no eruptions since April 22 and volcanic earthquakes had reduced significantly.

Lead scientist monitoring the volcano, Roderick Stewart said, “we’re not ready to say that the volcano has gone back to sleep yet, but it is definitely in a quieter stage than it was during all the explosions.”

At orange alert level, the volcano is able to resume explosions with less than 24 hours’ notice. Caution is advised for lahars (mudflows) which are a dangerous secondary hazard that can occur due to rainfall, the SRC has said.

Residents from the yellow and orange zones who had evacuated are now free to move back to their communities as a result of the downgrade.

The red zone is still restricted. Stewart said on May 4, that the volcano was at times emitting over 1000 tons of sulfur dioxide daily. These amounts are significant and indicate that the volcano is still in a state of unrest, according to UWI-SRC.

Moreover, a flashflood watch has been issued for the island as a gradual enhancement in shower activity is expected across the Eastern Caribbean during the next 48 hours.

Last week, St. Vincent experienced flooding, lahars, and landslides associated with a period of heavy rainfall, adding to the devastation caused by the volcano.

Meanwhile, the country recorded its 12th Covid-19 death earlier this week and six new cases on May 4. There are currently 144 active cases in St. Vincent.

Thirty-three cases have been recorded in shelters and two in private homes, since the eruptions begun. Two emergency shelters had to be on lockdown due to the virus recently.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Simone Keizer-Beache said on NBC Radio on Monday that it was “nobody in, nobody out” at these facilities, which have instituted areas of quarantine, isolation and testing in a five-day cycle in order to detect new cases and prevent further spread.

“We went from two cases to how many other cases within a matter of a few days and that is because we are not able to test as much and also because, as you know, if you test today and I am negative, you might be still positive and when we come back and test you after five days you then show up as positive,” she said.

Meanwhile, the island’s National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) has denied claims that it has been withholding mattresses meant for evacuees.

The organization has been coordinating response efforts in St. Vincent since the eruptions began. Over 20,000 people had been displaced and forced to flee to shelters due to the volcano. Some social media reports recently had accused the organization of hoarding mattresses meant for evacuees.

“NEMO wishes to assure the public that it has no interest in withholding supplies necessary for the comfort of those who have been displaced due to the eruption of the La Soufriere Volcano. NEMO and its stakeholders will continue to coordinate the response to this national emergency in accordance with humanitarian principles,” NEMO said in a statement to media.

According to the organization, 1500 mattresses have been delivered to 86 shelters while 550 have been delivered to families over the last few days.

Furthermore, NEMO’s Director Michelle Forbes revealed on an NBC Radio program that some elderly people with mobility issues who are almost bed-ridden were being ‘abandoned’ at shelters.

She explained that there are about 30 such persons at emergency shelters, with one shelter housing 22 of them.

NEMO had established two emergency shelters particularly for individuals with mobility issues – the main one now operating as a hospice, with home helpers taking care of the evacuees, Forbes said.

According to the director, most of the evacuees in these shelters have either been left alone by their families or they have indicated that they are unable to take care of them.

“So we are looking at the social protection issues of these vulnerable persons and we are not sure if the families will be willing to take them back. So that’s one issue we are having,” Forbes said explaining that the evacuees had to be placed in these emergency shelters since the regular facilities were unable to take care of their needs.

She also said, “So they have basically just left them, some are threatening that they will just leave them and go and some have actually left them and gone ahead. They have threatened to abandon them in the shelters. They have been doing that also.”

Forbes also bemoaned that some parents are also leaving their children at shelters for “a couple days” unattended.

“So there is, of course, the child protection issue…We have children, primary school age, being left alone for quite some time, teenagers being abandoned, people going back home and just leaving them there in the emergency shelters and they are not even indicating to the shelter managers that they are stepping out or going to be where. So you have all of these unattended children sometimes within the emergency shelters,” the director said.

She pointed out that this has been occurring at some emergency shelters and involves about 50 children, which include teenagers.

“Some people [are] claiming that they are going home to clean up but you don’t see them for a couple days and they don’t have any communication with the shelter managers,” she stated.

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves who also spoke on the radio program, appealed to residents to stop these practices.

“…We have to appeal to the caring instincts of our people,” he said

“No man…We have to hold the social solidarity together in the family and in the community and in the society at large. Please, please, please…,” he urged.

“I am just appealing to people. You know what you have to do,” he added.

On the issue of agriculture and food security, experts are concerned of potential food shortages on the island as much of the country’s crops were destroyed due to the eruptions. They also are apprehensive about St Vincent’s trading relationships with countries such as Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.

Officials have advised that increased production in the green zone would be needed to make up for the decline in food crops in the red and orange zones.

Moreover, May 5, saw the resumption of American Airlines flights to the island for the first time since the island’s airspace was closed due to volcanic eruptions.

American Airlines now provides two weekly flights – one on Wednesday and the other on Saturday – to St Vincent.

Meanwhile, more relief supplies continue to be donated to evacuees from both local and outside organizations and governments. One of the latest of such ventures is from GraceKennedy (GK) Group which has pledged over $13 million in assistance to support relief. These funds will be used to purchase and ship supplies to residents, while a portion will go to the company’s charitable partners on the ground.

In addition, a total of 500 Vincentians stand to benefit from direct employment opportunities within the Sandals Group when the company begins its recruitment drive in St Vincent in the next few weeks, the company said in a press release.