La Soufriere, St. Vincent 1902
La Soufriere is located on the island of St. Vincent and is an active volcano. For 90 years there had been no volcanic activity from the mountain and the people who lived near it did not fear an eruption. That changed in 1901 when numerous earthquakes rocked those living around the north side of the volcano. By April 1902, the earthquakes were much more frequent and stronger, causing the Caribs to prepare to flee. Then on the 6th of May, all doubt from anyone that an eruption was happening vanished, many fled to cities further away from the volcano in order to try and escape the devastation. Those who had a clear view of the steam rising from the crater had plenty of notice before the eruption, but those in Georgetown who had not seen the steam rising only had about 3 hours of notice to leave.
At 11 o’clock on May 7th, rain mixed with ash began to fall but still few took notice. Then by 1 o’clock gravel started to fall on Georgetown and finally those who had been denying the impending eruption moved from the fields and rushed to find shelter. Those who tried to flee were stopped as the dry bed that blocked their path out of the town was now filled with water too hot to cross. Everyone sought shelter where they could and tried to close up their homes from the suffocating clouds of heat and ash. Unfortunately, the homes were designed to allow air flow in order to keep them cool from the heat of the tropics. In many cases dozens of people sought shelter from the fields in managers houses, some managed to survive but many suffocated. In Georgetown and other areas, three quarters of the population perished in their homes. A death toll of more than 1,600 was recorded with numerous homes, plantations and villages completely whipped out.