Peak of disaster / Volcano Watch
Publication: Daily Nation
Date: Tue, Jul 1, 1997
Page: 40
Byline: Terry Ally in Montserrat
A MASSIVE eruption yesterday afternoon left several buildings and houses on fire in two villages and significantly increased the chances of a direct hit on the capital Plymouth.
A pilot in a commercial jetliner reported the top of the superheated ash cloud at 40 000 feet, one of the highest levels ever recorded. It drifted west as well as north over the safe zone.
Radio Montserrat's AM service was knocked off the air after the pyroclastic flow that occurred after 75 tectonic earthquakes were registered by seismographic equipment between 4 p.m. Sunday and 4 p.m. yesterday.
The latest flow, between 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. yesterday, sent pyroclastic material swishing through two valleys to the east and west of the volcano.
One travelled to Harris' in the east where a British navy helicopter reported houses on fire in the village at Windy Hill.
Another went through the main valley Fort Ghaut, and stopped short of the sea by 500 metres.
The Montserrat Volcano Observatory reported houses on fire in Gages Village and near Glendon Hospital, just on the outskirts of the capital. Vegetation was also reported on fire in upper Amersham, the area in which the transmitter of Radio Montserrat's AM service is located.
Officials could not pinpoint the reasons for the station being knocked out. Information officer Herman Sargeant said it could be because of the ash, or failure of the emergency generator.
The station's FM service remained on air, its transmitter located elsewhere.
The western pyroclastic flow has filled Fort Ghaut on the southern edge of Plymouth, prompting the Volcano Observatory to declare the capital off-limits. "Access to Plymouth is completely restricted. Zones 'A' and 'B' are extremely dangerous and nobody should go into these areas at all," the observatory said in yesterday evening's bulletin.
Fuel tankers, government and commercial vehicles have been allowed into Plymouth, between the pyroclastic eight-hour cycles, to get petrol.
There are fears that the next flow of a similar magnitude, travelling down Fort Ghaut, will spill the banks of the river and devastate the town.