Written by Kamryn You Mak
On the island of Saint Vincent, in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean, one volcanic peak rises high above the rest of the land at 1,234 meters in the northern area of the island. La Soufrière, locally called Soufrière, is the youngest and northernmost volcano on St. Vincent. The volcano produces pyroclastic flows which erupt highly visible, large vertical ash clouds and hot gasses like sulfur.
Previous eruptions include major events in 1718, 1812, 1902, 1971, 1979, and most recently, 2021. Many people alive today bore witness to the 1979 eruption, which began on Friday, April 13. Almost exactly 42 years later, on Friday, April 9, 2021, Soufrière erupted again, sending ash well past Barbados, 190 kilometers to the east.
The buildup and knowledge of an imminent eruption began in late December of 2020. Throughout the start of 2021, more work was done to grow the monitoring network and capacity, observe the volcano, and inform the public. On March 21, 2021, many low-frequency seismic events and the first volcano-tectonic earthquakes were recorded, with scientists expecting magma movement towards the surface. By April 5, the number and rate of volcano-tectonic earthquakes increased to 50 earthquakes per hour.
In the late afternoon of Thursday, April 8, the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) raised the Volcanic Alert level to red and Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves issued an evacuation order. However, many people shared that the government was made aware of the immediate need for evacuation many hours before releasing this information to the public. This evening marked the beginning of a mass evacuation of the red and orange zones, ultimately displacing over 20,000 individuals from their homes.
On the morning of Friday, April 9, at 8:41 am, the first explosive eruption occurred, sending massive plumes of ash and debris into the air. People used analogies of helicopters, jet planes, and thunder to describe the rumbling that echoed across the island. The second and third eruptions occurred at 2:45 pm and 6:30 pm. Residents remaining in the red and orange hazard zones were once again asked to evacuate. After repeated attempts to clear out all residents, police and other emergency workers were permitted to evacuate the areas that evening.
Eruptions continued throughout Saturday, resulting in ashfall across all of St. Vincent. Many described this as the worst and most frightening day of the eruptions, causing some who had stayed in their homes to decide to evacuate out of the more hazardous zones. According to residents all over, the eruptions and darkness were like night coming three times that day because of the huge blankets of ash. Throughout the day, street lamps turned on and off, and chickens flew in and out of trees, confusing the darkness for nighttime each time it came.
In the following days, the eruptions continued and their impacts reached far beyond St. Vincent. On Sunday, April 11, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley addressed the nation, which was now also heavily impacted by the falling ash. On Tuesday, April 13, Soufrière erupted at 6:30 am, officially marking the 42nd anniversary of her 1979 eruption. By Wednesday, eruptions were becoming less frequent, but the flows of ash, debris, and other materials continued. Eruptions ceased on Thursday, April 22, nearly two weeks after the first explosive eruption took place.
A week later, on April 29, St. Vincent was hit with heavy overnight rains. The downpours resulted in even more destruction, causing flooding and landslides. The rain mixed with the thick layer of ash that already covered the island, creating a cement-like substance that was even more difficult to clear. On Thursday, May 6, four weeks after the evacuation order was issued, the Volcanic Alert level was lowered back down to orange.
Throughout January of 2024, in a research team with Maggie Winters and Veneshia Harry, I visited six villages in the north leeward part of the island, listening to people's experiences with Soufrière’s 2021 eruption. We wandered the streets and shouted towards balconies, asking people if they were there for the latest eruption and what their experience was like. Some of what people shared, from staying in their homes and watching all of the eruptions take place, to evacuating and the ups and downs of navigating aid and displacement, is collected here. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this collection and may these stories and photos bring you joy, laughs, humility, gratitude, and respect. For now, the giant sleeps…
Debra Dyer remembers running from her school exam on foot during the 1979 eruption. But she always said, if Soufrière were to erupt again, she would stay to see what it’s all about. So, when the volcano began erupting in 2021, Debra stayed in her village of Chateaubelair throughout the darkness coming time and time again in one day. Saturday night, Debra fell asleep enjoying a movie. She woke suddenly at a quarter to 3 am on Sunday morning because of a phone call from the doctor at the Barrouallie clinic where she worked as a nurse. The doctor said, "I hope you’re not still down there!" To which Debra replied, "I’m in bed…" She was frightened as all she heard was silence around, and she thought everyone else had evacuated in the night when she had fallen asleep. Luckily, though, she heard her neighbor calling out to her.
Albert Collis, Debra’s neighbor, had also wanted to stay for the eruption since he had missed the previous activities in the 1970s. Friday morning, he saw lots of smoke was blowing. But the real excitement was late on Saturday when his whole roof collapsed as he was lying in bed. A beam crashed down an inch from his head as the roof fell in, almost killing him. He called out to his neighbor, "Debra! Debra!" Debra went over to Albert’s fallen shop, where he was living, with her umbrella and a flashlight. She broke down the door and helped Albert out as they struggled walking through all the rubble.
Later on, Debra was called into work in Barrouallie and continued going back and forth by boat as people started recovering in the aftermath of the eruptions. Albert’s shop was destroyed and he lost all of his appliances and many other things. He was never compensated for his losses and has not been able to fix his place yet, instead living in a different house that he has stayed in since the eruption. Albert thinks another eruption will come again, but even worse next time, though he still wouldn’t leave his home.
Fitzroy Delpleche, from Petit Bordel, encountered challenge after challenge in the aftermath of the eruption–but today tells his story like a comedy. When Soufrière erupted, he didn’t evacuate until Friday to Campden Park with a friend. The friend dropped him off at their relative’s house and then promptly returned to Pito to make money cleaning roofs. Fitzroy was then left in the basement with no facilities and stayed for three months. The people who lived there offered him no food or support, especially since his friend—their relative–had left. To use the bathroom, Fitzroy would wait until someone upstairs was awake and then get them to help him up the stairs to be able to use the facilities, though they would leave each morning and not return until night. He would go to a different friend’s house to be able to get some food every day as no one around would help him out much with money.
From afar in a different country, Fitzroy’s kids tried to support him. They had arranged transportation for him to evacuate and a house to go to, but Fitzroy’s friend hadn’t wanted to go that far. Once in Campden Park, after his kids had been searching for him on Facebook, they started sending money to the owner of a shop to deliver to Fitzroy. Unfortunately, without anyone’s knowledge, that man was keeping the money and not dropping anything off to Fitzroy. He was so hungry, lost a lot of weight, and suffered greatly–saying it was like he had no stomach, only two backs! Sometimes his goddaughter would pass through and comment on how no one was taking care of him, but wouldn’t offer her help either. At one point, someone visited him and gave him $20 just because of how rough he looked. A friend would come by and take him to his house for visits. Fitzroy even went to the beach with friends but was so weak that he couldn’t go into the water, only lay in the sand. But now, Fitzroy is alive and well and back in his home in Pito.
Lenroy Matthews became known as “Allaman the Running Man” after his experience with Soufrière. On the Friday of the eruption, Lenroy was out with his friend trying to catch iguana. When they saw darkness coming over the hill, he went home to add more clothes to his emergency bag. He took a shower since he’d been without a shirt in the bush and was getting cleaned up. But then, he heard this giant rumbling and shouted out to his mother, "What vehicle is making that noise?" She replied that it was Soufrière, and that was when he took off running! The Running Man still had soap all over his body and didn’t stop to dry off before putting on pants and shoes and grabbing his bag to leave. Matthews had heard someone say that anyone who stayed would die, so with that fear motivating him, he left everyone else behind. What he didn’t realize he was also leaving behind was a trail of his belongings as in his hurry, he hadn’t closed up his bag properly. Belongings scattered behind him and eventually at some distance up the road, the Running Man realized and had to turn around to pick up all of his stuff. He collected everything again and then a friend who was transporting people with their truck passed him and he hopped in. Though he was frightened, the Running Man lives to tell the tale!
From atop a ridge in his home village of Rose Hall, the highest settlement in St. Vincent, Percy Lampkin watched Soufrière erupt from his bedroom window. As there was trembling and vibrations, Percy stood on his roof with other neighbors that stayed in the village, taking pictures of the big ash clouds and dust falling. They felt safe from their vantage point, being high up on the hill and far enough away from the volcano. He figured that “If it’s safe for it [volcano observation station and monitor] to stay here, then it’s safe for me.” Additionally, in the north leeward area, Percy is the only amateur radio broadcaster, reaching others in his network all across the Caribbean. He relayed updates to others about the eruption and status of the volcano as his brother, down the street, wrote updates on Facebook.
Many had left Rose Hall once the evacuation orders were made and the volcano started erupting. But according to Percy, “The ones that stayed back provided security for the rest of the village.” He said, “We blocked the road with a big pile of ash and had guys liming [hanging out] there so anyone who wanted to come through had to say hi.” This way, no unfamiliar people could enter the village and there were no incidents of crimes or break-ins like in other places. The people who protected the village from around the ash pile were called “ash bums.”
In the period of about three months when most others didn’t return, all around Rose Hall was very dusty. All of Percy’s crops were covered in ash and destroyed. He ended up leaving and staying with his daughter for two weeks because there was nothing he could do and he had “cleaned up what we had to clean up then the wind and rain” cleaned the rest. Eventually, Percy got government aid because he is a registered farmer and his land was impacted by the volcano. Though he thought the emergency response agencies did well under the circumstances, he thought “the list was too big” of people receiving aid so the people who needed it most didn’t get enough support because everyone was. Now, Percy’s village has mostly returned and he is able to plant crops again.
Telikah Samuel has a small store along the main road of Rose Hall. Her house is right below the store, facing Soufrière. Thursday night, once the evacuation order was issued, Telikah washed and prepared her produce for the Town market as always. But she left around 8 pm for Layou, the next village south, where she had a private apartment from her stepson to stay throughout the evacuation. Friday morning, the van of vendors that always travels to Kingstown picked Telikah up in Layou, instead of in Rose Hall where she normally is, and made their drive to town. At the market, she heard rumbling and went outside to see a huge ash cloud rising up. At the end of the selling day, Telikah and the others rode back to Rose Hall like always.
That’s when her stepson called and helped transport her, her husband, and her brother to the apartment in Layou, along with a stove, fridge, and extra mattress. Telikah had already visited the apartment, in the months before when everyone knew that Soufrière was going to erupt at some point, and saw that those were the appliances they would need. Regarding her preparation, she said, “We have more than enough time. Some were rebellious. I was one of them. I didn’t pack anything. I had my meds and shoes on my feet… I knew where everything was to grab.”
Telikah made the apartment comfortable but would have rather been at home. She visited after a month but was too scared to stay since everything was covered in ash. All of the goods on her shelf expired and went bad. Over in Layou, Telikah was able to receive money from the World Food Program because of her and the others’ long-term health complications. She also received food boxes from government aid and payments for the crop damage to her farm. Additionally, she didn’t have to pay bills for a while after the eruption. Telikah had applied for aid as a business owner since all of her goods could no longer be sold, but she never received word on her application or aid. After the eruption, as many others were also receiving food and aid, business was very slow at her store. People didn’t need anything besides occasionally wanting to buy chicken. But overall, Telikah said, “Everything was good… I was walking a road where I needed a lot of help and I got it… The volcano erupted at the right time.”
After the eruptions, it took months for the government to clear people to return to their homes. Many people began returning before official clearance while others never came back. The entirety of St. Vincent was impacted for months--clearing ash, rebuilding, and replanting farms. Now, many people have seen their communities return to almost how they looked before the eruptions, but everyone has a story to tell and lives knowing that the giant will not sleep forever.
Photo credits: 1. Joseph Findlay 2. Kamryn You Mak 3. NASA 4. Victoria Shuster 5. Kenzit Young 6. Kurwin (Chang-I) Sampson 7. Kenzit Young 8. Kamryn You Mak 9. Kamryn You Mak 10. Joseph Findlay 11. Natalia Smith 12. Kamryn You Mak 13. Asher Brownstein 14. Asher Brownstein 15. Kamryn You Mak 16. Asher Brownstein 17. Maggie Winters 18. Maggie Winters 19. Kamryn You Mak 20. Kamryn You Mak 21. Victoria Shuster 22. Joseph Findlay