From AccuWeather

Government-led evacuations immediately began, but they were to be assisted by nearby cruise line ships, arriving Friday, to help get people to safety. Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, evacuations are more complicated than usual.

AccuWeather Global Weather Center – April 9, 2021 â€“  Authorities ordered mandatory evacuations on the island of Saint Vincent Thursday evening, ahead of a major volcanic eruption on Friday morning.

Saint Vincent is a volcanic island located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean and is home to La Soufrière, the island’s largest volcano.

Around 8:30 a.m., local time, on Friday, the volcano underwent an “explosive eruption,” spewing ash high into the air.

Scientists at the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Center, were monitoring seismic activity in the Eastern Caribbean, noticed gases spewing from the dome of the volcano on Thursday morning.

As seismic activity continued and became more intense, with magma visible near the surface later on Thursday, the country’s National Emergency Management Organization raised the island’s alert level from orange to red, according to NPR, meaning that eruption was considered “imminent”.

Smoke spews from the glowing dome of the La Soufriere volcano in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, April 8, 2021, in this image obtained from the University of West Indies Seismic Research Center. (Photo/The UWI Seismic Research Centre/ via REUTERS)

Around 6:00 p.m. Thursday, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, announced in a press conference the evacuation order for residents in “red zones” on the northeast and northwest sides of the island.

This evacuation includes roughly 16,000 people on the island, according to WFAA, a WABC affiliate in Dallas, Texas.

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