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KGforNYC.com
Caribbean L 6 ife, APRIL 16-22, 2021
Plumes of ash billow from the La Soufriere volcano on the island of St. Vincent
and the Grenadines which started erupting on April 9. UN/Navin Pato
Patterson
Volcanic eruption leaves ‘entire
population’ of St. Vincent
without clean water: UN
By Nelson A. King
The United Nations said on Monday
that last week’s eruption of La Soufrière
volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
has left the entire population of
the main island without clean water and
electricity.
Citing reports from the UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA), Stéphane Dujarric added that
about 20,000 evacuees on the Caribbean
island are currently in need of shelter.
“The eruption has affected most livelihoods
in the northern part of the island,
including banana farming, with ash and
lava flows hampering the movement of
people and goods,” he told journalists at
the daily news briefing.
The UN said that although the volcano
had been dormant since 1979, it started
spewing smoke and actively rumbling in
December.
La Soufrière erupted last Friday, blanketing
mainland St. Vincent in a layer of
ash and forcing some 16,000 residents
to evacuate their homes to safer parts of
the island.
Emphasizing that access to the island
is limited, Dujarric said that, along with
the Caribbean Disaster Emergency
Management Agency, the UN has mobilized
pre-positioned water and sanitation
hygiene supplies, currently stored in
nearby Barbados.
Over the weekend, the UN Secretary-
General spoke to St. Vincent and the
Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph
Gonsalves, and the UN said the government
officially asked for UN assistance.
The aid includes relief items, food and
cash distribution, and technical advice,
while neighboring countries are contributing
emergency supplies and assets to
support evacuation, according to Dujarric.
Meanwhile, OCHA reported that intervals
between tremors have lasted between
1.5 to 3 hours, which, based on visual
observations and satellite imagery, are
associated with periods of explosive activity
or enhanced venting of the volcano.
“Explosions and accompanying ashfall
of similar or larger magnitude are likely
to continue to occur over the next few
days,” according to the UN humanitarian
office.
At the request of the prime minister,
the UN said it has also mobilized experts
through the UN Environmental Program
(UNEP) to develop and implement
a debris management plan, including to
clean up ash, and to promote environmental
health and safety.
At the same time, the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO) said it has
mobilized to help the government of St.
Vincent and Grenadines respond to eruption
activities.
PAHO, through its Eastern Caribbean
office, based in Barbados, said it is coordinating
with Vincentian authorities to
identify critical needs, and is supporting
the Ministry of Health with technical
advice on enforcement of public health
measures, and with shipments of 150,000
medical masks, other personal protective
equipment, medical supplies and test
kits.
PAHO said it has already provided
60,000 medical masks, 7,000 respirators
and 6,000 gowns to Barbados Defense
Force emergency medical team to support
a possible deployment of their military to
perform emergency response activities.
FOR NYC MAYOR
PAID FOR BY KATHRYN GARCIA 2021
/KGforNYC.com
