Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves is pleasantly encouraged by efforts of Caribbean neighbour countries to assist the island and its people as La Soufrière erupted explosively.

In an address to the nation on Friday (April 9), following the first explosion and rising ash cloud, Gonsalves shed tears recalling how virtually all Caribbean countries offered to help in whatever way possible.

“It is very touching that their are families in Antigua, Grenada, St Lucia and Dominica who are calling in and saying they will take in people, if need be, into their homes. Amazing eh? In this dangerous road to Jericho, we have the Good Samaritans,” he said.

“The way in which people in St Vincent and the Grenadines, and in ordinary people have responded to put people in their homes, strangers, bring tears to my eyes. I love this Caribbean,” the prime minister cried.

Gonsalves, having spoken with Sir Hilary Beckles of the University of the West Indies (UWI), as well as prime ministers Andrew Holness and Keith Rowley, said the regional unity gives him great hope for the future of the Caribbean.

“I want us in the region to use natural disasters like these to strengthen the bonds of regionalism; it brings home that we are one Caribbean family,” Gonsalves added.

Evacuation works, which were declared on Thursday, continue in earnest as some 20,000 Vincentians in the red disaster zone and its environs seek shelter within the island’s designated safe areas and across the region.

Prime Minister Gonsalves said he was given assurances from the governments of Dominica, Grenada and Antigua that accommodation preparations are almost complete. St Vincent citizens would be taken in as soon as Sunday.

La Soufrière, which last erupted explosively on April 13, 1979, burst into action on April 9, a day after seismologists warned a cataclysmic event was imminent.

It is the second time in over 40 years that La Soufrière has erupted on a second Friday in April, according to the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO).

See related articles:

• Gonsalves orders mandatory evacuation as explosive eruption ‘imminent’ at La Soufrière
• La Soufrière explodes over St Vincent