VOLCANIC ERUPTION in nearby St. Vincent

[Aplmac]

La Soufriere volcano at the Northern tip of Saint Vincent

is finally blowing her top, after teasing us for some time now.

 

Cruise ships languishing in Barbados waters

are now en route the 100 miles West of the island

to help with accommodation for evacuees, presumably.

 

Serenade of the Seas is already in Vincentian waters

and I just noticed that Celebrity Reflection too

is now well underway Westward at around 16 kts!

It also looks like Celebrity Silhouette might be following Reflection

- so chances are that, by Friday morning April 9th,

there may be two or three cruise ships helping in this effort.

 

[Aplmac]

This website updates regularly.

 

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-60.2/centery:13.0/zoom:9

[Aplmac]

Friday morning: two ships are now standing by offshore SVG

Serenade of the Seas and Celebrity Reflection.

 

Celebrity Silhouette is positioned

about halfway between St. Vincent and Barbados

but seems oriented towards Barbados ....returning?

 

[puppycanducruise]

I saw this on the CBC website this morning.

Sending prayers for a safe outcome.

[jean87510]

wow.  Scary!

[Aplmac]

I see that Serenade is now docked at Kingstown

 

with Celebrity Reflection not far offshore

-and Carnival Paradise a bit further out.

 

[Aplmac]

A few hours later - 6 p.m.

the ash cloud makes its way Eastward on upper level air currents

and we expect some ash fall here in Barbados tonight?

 

I took a short video to show

what it looks like from South Coast Barbados

 

 

 

3 ships on station in St. Vincent

with Serenade docked at Kingstown -others offshore waiting..

 

 

[Aplmac]

Those evacuees taken by Serenade of the Seas to St. Lucia

are agri-workers on their way to Canada...but St. V. airport is so bad
they are being transferred to St. Lucia, to travel onward from there.
She is now docked at Point Seraphine, Castries.

 

Here in Barbados,

we've had alternating periods of lighter and darker conditions

over the last hour or so.

 

Awhile ago

I could just about see (against darker backgrounds) the very fine ash-fall

that is now precipitating.

 

[Aplmac]

La Soufriere popped again around 10 a.m. Sunday 11th.

Pop after pop after pop! Wave after wave of dust, coming our way..

 

Will this ever end? My wife is "cleaning" - lol -wasting her time.

 

[Aplmac]

Here comes the 10 a.m. pop

-soon to deliver another dose of dust to Barbados!

 

[cruisingxpert]

Stay safe.

 

Someone posted this video from Barbados showing ash falling at Noon time.

 

[Aplmac]

Last few days (nearly a week now?) NO more ash-fall!

The volcano finally blew itself out, leaving a big hole in the earth!

Now, it's just doing pyroclastic flows locally(in St. Vincent)

but no more ash-clouds for Barbados, thank God.

What we have now is resident dust, already here -blowing around

but generally skies are clear. Sweeping the house every single day

yields pretty much the same amount of pale grey volcanic dust.

It covers everything  in the house, except things

that have been locked away in cupboards or drawers!

This will take weeks if not months to clear away the mess.

 

Yesterday and today we had 1 brief shower per day

which helps to settle the dust but we need much much more rain

to get this behind us!

[sofietucker]

Hey there Alpmac--Hopefully eople have been wearing masks for the covid situation so maybe not so much inhaling of the volcanic dust. Now what is the usual expected rainfall in April/May/June? Is it likely there will be sufficient rain soon to help wash down the dust? 

[Aplmac]

On 4/22/2021 at 4:02 PM, sofietucker said:

Hopefully people have been wearing masks for the  Covid situation

so maybe not so much inhaling of the volcanic dust.

=======> Covid mask-practice definitely helped!

 

Now what is the usual expected rainfall in April/May/June?

Is it likely there will be sufficient rain soon to help wash down the dust? 

 

April/May/June  is usually Dry Season, often with minimal rainfall

but fortunately for Barbados,

we've had a fairly massive 'moisture stream' out of Venezuela,

heading N-Easterly over all these islands, from Trinidad and Tobago

right up to Guadeloupe...

which has greatly helped to settle the volcanic dust

and integrate it into our soil!

 

As a result,

I am noticing an extra-deep green coloration in some plants and trees

unusual even for a soaking wet Rainy Season

- the result of volcanic dust input as a natural fertilizer

(a known phenomenon). Green like Ireland, almost!

 

Said moisture stream ex Venezuela

donated an unusual few inches of rainfall on Wed. 28th. April.
Here at my house just East of Bridgetown, we had 1 inch+
but other areas at greater elevation have had as much as 4.5 inches.

This rainfall has been a huge help!!

[Aplmac]

UNluckily for neighbouring St. Vincent

they had greater rainfall than Barbados had

which has turned much of the volcanic ejecta

into fast-flowing LAHARS (mud-flows)

the consistency of wet cement/concrete

complete with stones, boulders and logs in the mix

playing hell with everything in their path!

In short, do not get in the way!

 

You might notice that one of the Lahar pics I'm attaching

shows a Steaming Lahar - very hot, very lethal!

This is Biblical stuff, dear reader!

 

The overall situation in St. Vincent is now DIRE!

St. Vincent is in deep doo-doo... literally.

Ashfall is 2-3 ft. deep in places!

They have a serious national recovery situation on their hands

and any and all donations are welcome, both cash and physical materiel!

 

I'll attach a few photos of what's been happening in St. Vincent

over the last few days, to illustrate... It's not pretty.

 

[Aplmac]

A month later, now

the volcanic dust situation on the island of Barbados

is a lot better, thanks to diligent cleanup efforts

on the part of both Government and the private individual

- and also due to un-seasonal April Showers (April can be dry).

 

Yes, there are still pockets left here and there

mainly at the sides of lesser-travelled roads

but every shower of rain helps to wash it away

and/or integrate it with the soil.

 

Things are definitely improved!

[Aplmac]

In Saint Vincent they are quickly discovering

that the most damaging aspect of this entire eruption episode

is the not-so-fun stuff that can happen

after the volcano has settled down nicely (as it has)

- given substantial rainfall!!

 

Ash deposits and other ejected material, as yet still un-settled,

with start to move when the rains lubricate things!

Substantial, damaging mud-flows called Lahars make their way downslope

acting like mud-bulldozers, damaging or removing everything in their path.

 

Below are a few pics of specifically Lahar damage, weeks after the eruption!

 

[leerathje]

We will be on a cruise visiting the southern Caribbean in December 2021...and in particular,  Barbados.  Does anyone know the current situation there? 

 

L.

[Aplmac]

4 hours ago, leerathje said:

We will be on a cruise visiting the southern Caribbean in December 2021

...and in particular,  Barbados. 

Does anyone know the current situation there?

Current situation in Barbados has largely returned to normal

both on the volcanic dust front, and on the Covid front.

 

Situation in St. Vincent (in case that's your focus)
is likely to be less stable,

and you probably shouldn't go visit them just yet!

 

By December 2021, though

things will be that much further improved
- it's six months away!

 

[Aplmac]

END OF SEPTEMBER and the situation re. Soufriere

seems to have settled nicely, as expected

after four straight days of blowing her top -and getting it out of her system!

There has been no significant action since late April 

 

 

These pics are fairly recent - August and Sept. 2021