The humanitarian and financial disaster unleashed by the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent will final months and will prolong to close by islands, a UN official warned Wednesday.
“It is a crisis that will require a humanitarian response but also a response in terms of rehabilitation” which might final for a number of months, mentioned Didier Trebucq, the United Nations coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
Trebucq, chatting with reporters in New York by way of videoconference from Barbados, mentioned that the volcano — which had not erupted since 1979 — stays lively and daily belches up clouds of ash and smoke after erupting on April 9.
The islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have round 110,000 inhabitants, 20,000 of whom needed to be evacuated from their houses.
About 4,000 individuals have been moved to shelters however “this number is growing,” Trebucq mentioned.
On Wednesday a French navy ship, Le Ventose, reached Saint Vincent with water and 75 tonnes of humanitarian help.
Trebucq mentioned that it was arduous to understand how lengthy the disaster will final. “Everything will depend on the duration of the volcanic eruptions,” he mentioned. “It is possible that it will last a few weeks, it is also possible that it lasts several months.”
The eruption may have a medium and long run affect on Saint Vincent in addition to close by islands together with Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and others.
The French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe may additionally be impacted “depending on the direction of the winds and where the volcanic ash is deposited,” he mentioned.
In calling for extra strong worldwide help Trebucq famous that hurricane season within the Caribbean is ready to start in two months, and that tourism, the primary supply of revenue for the islands, has been severely curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is presently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
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