Volcanic eruption on St Vincent

The La Soufriere volcano erupted on Friday, covering the island in a thick layer of ash. The explosive eruption has led to 16,000 people being evacuated from their homes.

The volcano last erupted in 1979 and has provided scientists with historical evidence of how explosive the eruption can be. The volcano has continued to erupt since Friday with predictions that the eruption could continue for several weeks.

The whole island has been affected, with many areas, especially those in the red zones finding themselves blanketed by ash and a number of power cuts and disruption to water supplies have been reported across the island. People struggled to evacuate from near to the volcano due to the thick ash layers left on major routes. Visibility was also an issue.

3,200 of those who have been evacuated have been housed in government shelters. Four empty cruise ships are also being used to take evacuees over to neighbouring islands. All residents being evacuated are being tested for Covid-19 and positive cases are being held in isolation centres.

Whilst most of the ash is expected to travel over the Atlantic Ocean, warnings have been given to nearby islands such as Barbados to expect light ashfall. Impacts on vegetation and wildlife is therefore expected on both St Vincent and its nearest neighbours.

For more on this event, check out the following article:

St Vincent volcano: Power cuts after another 'explosive event' - BBC News