Evacuations & Uncertainty

Have you ever wondered what its like living with the uncertainty of a volcanic eruption? If you had to be evacuated from your home, where would you go?

As a result of the volcanic activity the population on Montserrat went from 11,314 in 1991 to 4,491 in 2001 (it has since recovered to 5146 in 2016).

The first evacuation happened on the 21^st of August 1995 in response to one of the largest  phreatomagmatic explosions, most of the population returned around two weeks later. With the onset of dome growth a second temporary evacuation happened in December 1995. However, a third permanent evacuation was called on the 3^rd of April 1996, as pyroclastic flows began to tumble down from the volcano. This evacuation meant that some 7,000 people on the island had to be relocated and 1,366 people were housed in temporary shelters. Conditions there were very difficult with evacuees complaining of overcrowding and poor sanitation.

Elsewhere people were living with family members or re-located to other Caribbean islands, the USA, Canada and the UK. On the 23^rd of April the UK Government set up a voluntary evacuation scheme where assistance was given with passage, and Montserratians able to access education and other social support. However only 1,244 people registered initially for this package.

Press play to see where evacuated people on Montserrat went:

Most of the core infrastructure was in the evacuated zone so at this point business, government organisations and schools began to relocate in the north of the island too. This drove further relocations away from the island. In the first two years of the eruption a ‘microzonation’ system was used, and eventually activity escalated to a point where the zone of evacuation had to expand, forcing business and schools in this middle zone to have to relocate again in late 1997. Again, this drove further people to leave the island. However rebuilding of new housing and new infrastructure also began which now makes living in the north of the island easier.

In the Curating Crises project the digitised archives we have relate to the moment when the UK and Monstserrat governments were accommodating that escalating activity. The UK Government discusses the decisions to be made with the evacuation scheme, and how and where to re-develop infrastructure and new housing on island. Debates continue about the nature of the activity, and negotiations start with other Caribbean nations about how to help with people living there.   

In an interview now preserved by the British Library, volcanologist Stephen Sparks descibes some of the uncertainty during the eruption of the 1990s. We've picked out the parts of the recording that relate to Montserrat.