Evacuation of Montserrat?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 11:58:23 -0400
From: besterdj@juno.com
To: mni-info@gemradio.com
Subject: TRUE?

IS THIS TRUE???????
.c The Associated Press  
SALEM, Montserrat (AP) - Britain was getting ready today to evacuate what
remained of the population of Montserrat, saying that it could no longer
rule out the possibility of a ``cataclysmic-intensive eruption'' on the
Caribbean island. 

The volcano already has forced authorities to evacuate all but the north
of the 39-square-mile island, including Plymouth, the capital. The
volcano became active in July 1995 and killed at least 10 people in a
violent eruption on June 25. 

Officials ordered an evacuation from the central towns of Salem,
Flemmings, Hope and Olveston, on Saturday, citing an observatory report
warning a trend toward ``more violent and hazardous behavior ... and
explosive activity.'' 

All but about 4,000 of the British colony's 11,000 residents have left
since 1995. Most of those remaining are crowded into shelters in the
rugged north - until recently thought safe from the volcano's eruptions. 

But today, the British minister responsible for the colony said that he
could no longer rule out a cataclysmic event that could engulf the entire
island, which is about 250 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

``Over the past 24 hours the volcano has become much more dangerous,''
International Development Minister George Foulkes said in London. 

``The recent increase in explosive activity is such and the uncertainty
attending any hypothesis about the volcano's capacity to go cataclysmic
are so great that the potential hazard cannot be taken to be zero,'' he
said. 

``The consequences of such an event, if it did occur, would be extreme
and anywhere on the whole island could be significantly threatened,''
Foulkes said. 

The British destroyer HMS Liverpool headed toward the island today and
community leaders considered organizing extra ferries to evacuate
residents. 

Scores of residents sought shelter Sunday in a partially completed school
complex in the northern ``safe'' zone of 12 square miles. 

On Saturday, the island's government offered residents an unspecified
amount of money and transportation to neighboring islands, including
Antigua and Guadeloupe. 

The government also planned to scuttle its only jail and send about 10
high-risk inmates to the nearby British colony of Tortola today, said
Reuel Hixon, assistant prisons superintendent. He said the remaining 10
prisoners would be assigned to help in emergency construction projects. 

The jail - formerly the Salem library - was adapted after the main
facility in Plymouth, the capital, was declared off-limits in September. 

The volcano was ``relatively quiet'' on Sunday, sending a few discharges
into the southern Gages Valley, said Paul Jackson, deputy chief scientist
at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. 

AP-NY-08-18-97 0843EDT 
. . . The Electronic Evergreen, courtesy of GEM Radio Network
=========================================================================
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 12:12:54 -0400 (EDT)
From: PDMDSMITH@aol.com
To: mni-info@gemradio.com
Subject: Fwd: Britain Ready To Evacuate Montserrat

Via MNI-INFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
copy of recent AOL press
---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj:    Britain Ready To Evacuate Montserrat
Date:    97-08-18 10:42:41 EDT
From:    AOL News

.c The Associated Press

      By KEITH GREAVES
      SALEM, Montserrat (AP) - Britain was getting ready today to
evacuate what remained of the population of Montserrat, saying that
it could no longer rule out the possibility of a
``cataclysmic-intensive eruption'' on the Caribbean island.
      The volcano already has forced authorities to evacuate all but
the north of the 39-square-mile island, including Plymouth, the
capital. The volcano became active in July 1995 and killed at least
10 people in a violent eruption on June 25.
      Officials ordered an evacuation from the central towns of Salem,
Flemmings, Hope and Olveston, on Saturday, citing an observatory
report warning a trend toward ``more violent and hazardous behavior
... and explosive activity.''
      All but about 4,000 of the British colony's 11,000 residents
have left since 1995. Most of those remaining are crowded into
shelters in the rugged north - until recently thought safe from the
volcano's eruptions.
      But today, the British minister responsible for the colony said
that he could no longer rule out a cataclysmic event that could
engulf the entire island, which is about 250 miles southeast of San
Juan, Puerto Rico.
      ``Over the past 24 hours the volcano has become much more
dangerous,'' International Development Minister George Foulkes said
in London.
      ``The recent increase in explosive activity is such and the
uncertainty attending any hypothesis about the volcano's capacity
to go cataclysmic are so great that the potential hazard cannot be
taken to be zero,'' he said.
      ``The consequences of such an event, if it did occur, would be
extreme and anywhere on the whole island could be significantly
threatened,'' Foulkes said.
      The British destroyer HMS Liverpool headed toward the island
today and community leaders considered organizing extra ferries to
evacuate residents.
      Scores of residents sought shelter Sunday in a partially
completed school complex in the northern ``safe'' zone of 12 square
miles.
      On Saturday, the island's government offered residents an
unspecified amount of money and transportation to neighboring
islands, including Antigua and Guadeloupe.
      The government also planned to scuttle its only jail and send
about 10 high-risk inmates to the nearby British colony of Tortola
today, said Reuel Hixon, assistant prisons superintendent. He said
the remaining 10 prisoners would be assigned to help in emergency
construction projects.
      The jail - formerly the Salem library - was adapted after the
main facility in Plymouth, the capital, was declared off-limits in
September.
      The volcano was ``relatively quiet'' on Sunday, sending a few
discharges into the southern Gages Valley, said Paul Jackson,
deputy chief scientist at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory.
      AP-NY-08-18-97 0843EDT
============================================================================
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 14:20:13 -0400
From: besterdj@juno.com
To: mni-info@gemradio.com
Subject: Only Voluntary Evacuation/N Safe

Via MNI-INFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


The one article from the Associated Press has apparently been pulled and
this one has replaced it.  At least the evacuation is voluntary in nature
and this report states the north is still safe.  Sorry  to be sending so
many items, but it seems it has been a day without much word coming from
the island via the EE. 
 Jan
..........

SALEM, Montserrat (AP) - A British warship arrived off volcano-stricken
Montserrat today, ready to help evacuate any residents who want to leave
the Caribbean island. 

Britain said it was prepared to evacuate all the roughly 4,000 remaining
residents of Montserrat, saying that it could no longer rule out the
possibility of a ``cataclysmic'' eruption. 

Officials in Montserrat, however, stressed today that the northern part
of the island was safe and that residents shouldn't panic. Details on a
voluntary evacuation plan were being worked out, they said. 

``There is no question about anyone being forced off the island,'' said
Clive Mansfield, a staff officer with Gov. Frank Savage's office. 

The volcano already has forced authorities to evacuate all but the north
of the 39-square-mile island, including Plymouth, the capital. The
volcano became active in July 1995 and killed at least 10 people in a
violent eruption on June 25. 

Officials ordered an evacuation from the central towns of Salem,
Flemmings, Hope and Olveston, on Saturday, citing a scientific report
warning a trend toward ``more violent and hazardous behavior ... and
explosive activity.'' 

The majority of what was once the British colony's 11,000 residents have
left since 1995. Most of those remaining are crowded into shelters in the
rugged north. 

But today, the British minister responsible for the colony said that he
could no longer rule out a cataclysmic event that could engulf the entire
island, which is about 250 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

``Over the past 24 hours, the volcano has become much more dangerous,''
International Development Minister George Foulkes said in London. 

``The recent increase in explosive activity is such and the uncertainty
attending any hypothesis about the volcano's capacity to go cataclysmic
are so great that the potential hazard cannot be taken to be zero,'' he
said. 

``The consequences of such an event, if it did occur, would be extreme
and anywhere on the whole island could be significantly threatened,''
Foulkes said. 

The British destroyer HMS Liverpool arrived in Montserrat today and
officials were organizing extra ferries to evacuate those residents
wishing to leave. 

Scores of residents sought shelter Sunday in a partially completed school
complex in the northern ``safe'' zone of 12 square miles. 

On Saturday, the island's government offered residents an unspecified
amount of money and transportation to neighboring islands, including
Antigua and Guadeloupe. 

The government also planned to scuttle its only jail and send about 10
high-risk inmates to the nearby British Virgin island of Tortola today,
said Reuel Hixon, assistant prisons superintendent. He said the remaining
10 prisoners would be assigned to help in emergency construction
projects. 

The jail - formerly the Salem library - was adapted after the main
facility in Plymouth, the capital, was declared off-limits in September. 

The volcano was relatively quiet early today, authorities said. 

AP-NY-08-18-97 1306EDT 
. . . The Electronic Evergreen, courtesy of GEM Radio Network

============================================================================
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 18:54:47 -0300
From: "Douglas A. Darby" 
To: mni-info@gemradio.com
Subject: Governor's Letter to Isles Bay

Via MNI-INFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The following letter was received by hand delivery to the remaining
American couple still in Isles Bay.  The important part is the statement
about reduced facilities to come in Montserrat.

   16 August 1997

	Isles Bay
The area in which you currently live has been designated as part of the
total exclusion area and is covered by the latest Emergancy Orders which
I signed in July 1997.  Under these Orders no entry to the area is
permitted and teh Royal Montserrat Police Force are required to detain
any person found there.

I am aware that in the past the scientific advice has been that the
residents on the upper slopes of Isles Bay hill were unlikely to be at
direct risk from volcanic activity and that the main risk was of being
cut off by a pyroclastic flow down the Belham valley.  However, the
situation has changed and the volcano has moved into a considerably more
dangerous phase.      AS you will know from today's announcements, Salem
can no longer be considered safe and Isles Bay hill is now considered to
be under direct threat from hot ballisitcs which may be expelled during
an explosion or surge clouds resulting from a large pyroclastic flow. 
People also run an unacceptable risk when entering or leaving the area. 
Within the next few days we shall be starting voluntary off-island
evacuation following which the remaining facilities in Montserrat will
be further reduced.

I strongly urge you to leave Isles BAy immediately.  The Police are
available to escort you out of the area (please contanct the Acting
Commissioner, Mr. Telesford). If you have difficulty in arranging
short-term temporary accomodations you should contact the Emergency
Services Unit on 491-7166.

I am copying this letter to the US Consul General in Bridgetown,
Barbados who has responsibility of US nationals resident in Montserrat.

 Yours sincerely.

F.J. Savage
Governor
==========================================================================
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 22:13:23 -0400
From: Brian Meade 
To: Joseph Jackman , mni-info@gemradio.com
Subject: Re: Frustrated

Via MNI-INFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joe....
I'm not so sure that the scientists have given faulty advice......it is my
opinion ( and I'm no scientist),  that this Voclano is behaving like no
other...Looking at the situation from a "logical" point of view(I may not
be), they  give thier advice based on historical data from other volcanoes
and what little they have on the Soufriere Hills!!!!
Remember.....in the early days they said this Volcano was only capable of
PHREATIC eruptions.....we have now gone past the PYROCLASTIC stage to a
possible CATACYLSMIC one. I believe that they honestly did not expect the
PYROS to reach the Airport and to go down Belham Valley...Look at what has
happened.... I believe it was said(and I stand corrected) that no
geological evidence was found in the North to suggest that the North is
unsafe from a Volcanic Eruption...yet residents were asked last week to
collect Hard hats to protect thier heads from falling stones, which reached
as far as ST. JOHN'S!!!!!!!!
Look.....this thing is bigger than ALL OF US. and as far as I'm concerned
that it is all in God's hands....he is the only one who knows our destiny,
and only he knows when this thing will end.
My heart and prayers go out to all my fellow Montserratians.
Brian 

----------
From: Joseph Jackman 
To: mni-info@gemradio.com
Subject: Frustrated
Date: Monday, 18 August, 1997 7:39 PM

 Hi Group.

Does anyone know how many scientific papers, Masters and Doctoral thesis
were written on the volcanic activities on Montserrat ? I am sure it would
make interesting reading. How can people sleep when they know that their
faulty advice has ruined thousands.

===========================================================================
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 23:56:23 -0400
From: besterdj@juno.com
To: mni-info@gemradio.com
Subject: A Safety Measure

Via MNI-INFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Another news report.  This is also different in content.  It would be
informative if the EOC would send the Daily Reports to the Group, as that
might clear up some of the confusion concerning the conflicting news
reports of today.

.....
OLVESTON, Montserrat, Aug 18 (Reuter) - Earthquakes shook the ground
beneath the brewing Montserrat volcano on Monday as Britain said it would
evacuate residents who wanted to leave the stricken Caribbean island. 

Scientists monitoring the Soufriere Hills volcano in the island's south
said the tremors could build to a new eruption and a huge explosion could
not be ruled out. 

Officials said a forced emergency evacuation from the island, now
partially a wasteland blanketed in ash, was not necessary. Montserrat is
a dependent British territory. Britain, which has committed more than $66
million, to disaster aid, will organize a voluntary evacuation as a
safety measure, they said. 

International Development Minister George Foulkes gave the go-ahead to
the evacuation. 

``Evacuation is expected to start later this week. Monserratians are
expected to go to other Caribbean islands and the UK, although some may
go elsewhere,'' the International Development department said in a
statement in London. 

The evacuation will be by sea in ferries to Antigua and other islands in
the Leeward Islands chain. The British warship HMS Liverpool is anchored
offshore from Montserrat to help coordinate it. 

``Our role will be to assist in marshalling the ferries in and out of the
jetty at Little Bay. We'll also lend a hand onshore in organizing and
registering people,'' Captain David Snelson told Reuters by phone from
the warship. 

Residents said there was little sense of panic on the island, known as
the Emerald Isle both because of its lush vegetation and in homage to its
Irish early settlers. 

``A lot of people are planning to stay,'' said Jim Harris, the American
owner of the Providence Estates Hotel in St. Peter's. ``People are very
resilient. They haven't tossed in the towel yet. I'm amazed. They want to
stay because they love it, because they have no other place to go,
whatever. Expatriates and Monserratians.'' 

Most of the inhabitants who have braved the volcano's increasing activity
since 400 years of dormancy ended in July 1995 are crammed into the
north. Fresh eruptions in June left at least 19 people dead and earlier
in August virtually destroyed the capital, Plymouth. 

The danger zone was expanded northwards over the weekend to include
Salem, the largest town still inhabitated since Plymouth was abandoned. 

``Salem has now become vulnerable because the explosions are likely to
get larger. If the rocks are hot when they reach Salem they can cause
fires,'' government spokesman Herman Sargeant said. 

Residents could enter Salem, on the western edge of the Center Hills, by
day but must leave by nightfall, Clive Mansfield, staff officer in the
governor's office, said. 

``We have drawn a new line at the Nantes River north of Salem,'' he said.


``Life is going on pretty much as it has for the past two years. Shops
are open,'' Mansfield said, adding: ``The voluntary evacuation is just a
safety measure.'' 

Paul Jackson, deputy chief scientist at the Montserrat Volcano
Observatory, said swarms of earthquakes were occurring every eight to 10
hours, lasting about four hours. 

``At their peak they merge into tremors. The explosion we had last
Tuesday was caused by this,'' he said. 

Montserrat's population is down to less than half the 11,000 there before
the volcano became active again in 1995.  

16:58 08-18-97
. . . The Electronic Evergreen, courtesy of GEM Radio Network
===========================================================================
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 06:19:18 -0400
From: Candia Williams 
To: Anthony Tarley-Reid ,
    Bennette Roach 
Cc: Montserrat Group 
Subject: Re: More Ballistics.

Via MNI-INFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dear All,
I don't know how it is possible to over react to a report by ordering a
voluntary off-island evacuation.  There MUST be, in a situation such as
this volcanic crisis, a development of different types of scenarios based
on the odds, if you will, and a CONTINGENCY PLAN developed for each
scenario.  For example, in 1995, there was a 1 in 100 chance that the
volcano was going to reach explosive state quoted by Mr. RT Meade's
government on the advice of the scientists.  So that planning then should
have included guidelines as to what should be done in the case of that
actuality ie, this is happening, and that is happening so ACCORDING TO OUR
PLAN  we should be doing this, we should be doing that.  How then do we
have over-reaction?
Do we order an off island evacuation and ask a ship from Guadeloupe to come
and pick up Montseratians who have been asked to leave the island
voluntarily, and when the ship arrives, no one goes on the ship, because
a) they are waiting for the promised package, because they don't know
whether they will ever get the package if they leave;
b)they can't speak french and so they don't know how they are going to get
a job;
c) they don't know where they are going to live in Guadeloupe;
d) they don't know for how long they are going to live in Guadeloupe;
e) if they go to Guadeloupe and want to leave and go to another island how
will they be able to afford to go if they are not working;
f) what will be their status in Guadeloupe

and the ship returns to Guadeloupe with one or two persons?
Will the ship come back next time?
Going to Brian's posting of hearing the BBC report of an imminent
cataclysmic eruption.  yesterday afternoon while driving home there was a
programme on ABS (Antigua Broadcasting Service) on Montserrat in (to?) the
year 2000, a CBU production.  The scenario of Montserrat six months ago was
played out, with the alert levels and all, white means this, yellow means
that, orange means the other, red... purple.   

I'm reminded of a childhood ditty red means stop, amber means wait nd green
means go, go  go-o-o-o

I don't know if one asks anymore what is going on? 
SOMEONE FROM THE OUTSIDE NEEDS TO GET IN THERE NOW!!!!!!!!
WILL THE UNCHR DO IT? 

I call on each Montserratian and any person who has any feeling in his/her
heart for Montserrat to ask their Government to lobby the UN to step in and
see what is happening in MNI.
I make no apologies for this statement.
Candia

----------
AP
               19-AUG-97

               SALEM, Montserrat (AP) Police with riot shields broke up an
unruly demonstration on the tense island of Montserrat, dispersing a mob
gathered to protest crowding in shelters housing refugees from the
island's deadly volcano. 

               Some protesters also spoke out against what they see as
government coercion to abandon their endangered island voicing the
sentiments of many of Montserrat's remaining 4,000 residents. 

               The protest late Monday followed Chief Minister Bertrand
Osborne's refusal to immediately disclose terms of the financial package
being worked out for those who want to flee the island, in the face of
what could be a devastating eruption. 

               About 50 demonstrators, many of them unemployed young people,
used empty gasoline drums, rocks and a wooden church pew to block a road
that links Salem to the south. 

               Salem has served as the island's commercial center since the
capital, Plymouth, was evacuated last year. But it has been declared
off-limits after nightfall because of the threat of volcanic activity. 

               Officials announced Saturday they were preparing for a
voluntary evacuation of the island, and a British warship arrived Monday
to help in any evacuation. 

               "Those who can afford to will run, but the question is what
about those who can't?" asked one protester, Emmanuel White. "We don't
have any sympathy for the government." 

               "I would like to know why the government is encouraging me to
leave the country?" resident Leroy Daley demanded. 

               Protesters jeered police who cleared the junction and
extinguished a small fire. There was no violence and no arrests. 

               Local authorities have stressed that there is no threat yet
to the northern part of the island, where Montserrat's remaining residents
are staying many of them in cramped emergency shelters. 

               "The north is safe," said Clive Mansfield, a staff officer
with Gov. Frank Savage's office.
               "There is no question about anyone being forced off the island." 

               More than two-thirds of Montserrat's 11,000 people have left
the island since the volcano erupted in July 1995. The volcano claimed
its first lives on June 25, when an avalanche of scalding rock, ash and
gas engulfed several villages in an off-limits zone, killing as many as 20
people. 

               Osborne said islanders who want to leave will get help with
transportation, housing and living expenses if they choose to go to
neighboring islands, Britain or other destinations. 

               A sister British colony in the Caribbean, Anguilla, said it
was willing to accept as many as 250 people from Montserrat.
. . . The Electronic Evergreen, courtesy of GEM Radio Network
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Messages below this line were loaded before August 12; 
         above this line on November 2, 1997
==========================================================================
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 10:33:11 -0400
From: Anthony Tarley-Reid 
To: Brian Meade 
Cc: Montserrat Group 
Subject: Re: Evacuation?

Who is the senior government official or civil servant responsible for
Emergency Prepardness and Civil Defense on Montserrat?
----------
> From: Brian Meade 
> To: JAMAL ; Electronic Evergreen

> Subject: Re: Evacuation?
> Date: Friday, August 08, 1997 10:03 AM
> 
> What bothers me most of all....is the MNI goverenmnt's TOTAL SILENCE on the
> off-island evacuation plan... they admit that a plan exists...It is my
> understanding that they don't want to panic the people......but, EVEN IF it
> is not used...the 'people' MUST KNOW  how the plan is to be
> implemented....just in case. Are they going to wait until the last minute,
> and have everybody rush down to Little Bay like 'sensay fowl wid dey head
> chop off'....!!!! Now, that's REAL PANIC.  Not good Emergency Management in
> my book.....Lets wait and see...I  am very, very, VERY, concerned.
> Brian
> velvet@sintmaarten.net.
> 
> ----------
> From: JAMAL 
> To: Electronic Evergreen 
> Subject: Evacuation?
> Date: Friday, 08 August, 1997 1:20 AM
> 
> Hello Everyone,
> I'm not really clear about what is going on but BBC International TV has
> just reported that the UK government is finalizing plans or a total
> evacuation of Montserrat.  The report said that there are fears about the
> toxic gases which may be in these eruptions.  
> This report seems more in line with what is being reported in France.  The
> report said that people would be evacuated to neighbouring islands so I
> would imagine that Guadeloupe would be an obvious destination.
> Has anyone got any clear information?
> Jam

From: Candia Williams 
To: Brian Meade ,
    Anthony Tarley-Reid 
Cc: Electronic Evergreen MNI-INFO Group 
Subject: Re: Evacuation?

Dear All, 
The Montserrat emergency evacuation plan must be the best kept secret in
the whole of MNI, or a very complicated document.  When one asks about it
it is continually being refined and reviewed.  By whom? Might I ask? No one
seems to know.  Or perhaps it is known but that too is another secret.  Who
is the plan for? The people of Montserrat?  Has anyone seen a copy of it
in draft, in pre-refined, pre- reviewed state?  Who has had input into it?
What are theforeseen limitations/constraints to the effective working of
the plan? 
What are all the inputs into the plan ie from where will people depart. 
How will they depart ? inshifts?  Shelter by shelter?  In families?  In
villages?  By religious denomination?  Will the elderly leave first, will
the sick be transported first?  Will the young mothers and infants be
transported first?  Will the women be transported first?
What about documentation?  Will the records of the Government of Montserrat
our heritage  and history be transported?  Who is in charge of this the
same civil servants who need to get away from an erupting volcano?
Where are these records going to be stored offisland? 
What are the shelter, employment, schooling, health, arrangements made
offisland in the event of an evacuation?  How much time prior to an
offisland evacuation will one have to prepare for leaving?  Should one have
a little bag packed and ready to go?  If one has only a little bag what is
there in terms of assistance when one gets to their final destination?
Will everyone leave Montserrat?  If everyone does not leave who is going to
decide who will stay?  Who will be checking to see that everyone has in
fact left if that is what it is to be?  And if everybody leaves what then?
what happens to MNI?

This last question... perhaps I don't want to see an off island evacuation
plan after all.
Candia

> From: Brian Meade 
> To: Anthony Tarley-Reid 
> Cc: Electronic Evergreen MNI-INFO Group 
> Subject: Re: Evacuation?
> Date: Friday, August 08, 1997 4:39 PM
> 
> Spot on  'old boy'....I  concur wholeheartedly.....I am still at a loss to
> know why the MNI authorities refuse to publish or reveal the evacuation
> plan.....Maybe then, it doesn't make sense for airline flight attendants to
> give the emergency drills before take-off!!!!
> 
> ----------

Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 09:37:15 -0700
From: Gabriel Parsons 
Subject: Angry rumblings

Today's Sunday Times has a longish report by Kit Cardross, datelined 
Salem, Montserrat, and illustrated by an (old) Kevin West shot of a 
billowing cloud seen from Manjack (I think). [Providing you 
register, free, with www.sunday-times.co.uk, you can read it on the web - 
follow the link to World.]

Entitled "Angry rumblings over talks while Montserrat Burns", it first 
describes a helicopter flight over the volcano and Tar River, then an 
eruption. "...In Salem, it was overwhelming, like giant hailstones... It 
looked like a hailstorm but this was a volcanic stonestorm like nobody 
had ever seen." 

"Montserratians are upset. ... because of lack of preparation or 
organisation by the British government which is supposed to run this 
'dependent territory'. ...They asked why officials were wining and dining 
in London while the island burned.

...Despite the usual local optimism, it looked doubtful that anyone could 
keep living here for very long."

Today's Independent on Sunday, on the other hand, has no more than a 
reminiscence by diarist Raymond Whitaker about a visit many years ago. 
"At least Hong Kong had a proper sendoff. In the case of Montserrat, we 
seem to be losing a colony by new means - volcanic eruption."

John Wells (using Gabriel's e-mail)
. . . The Electronic Evergreen, courtesy of GEM Radio Network

Date: Sat, 9 Aug 1997 10:35:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Ben L. Oostdam" 
To: Brian Meade 
Cc: Niki Roach ,
    Anthony Tarley-Reid ,
    Dana van Alphen , mni-info@gemradio.com
Subject: Re: Evacuation?
I am disturbed about the reported  lack of planning and communication. 
Has CDERA not offered any assistance, at least in preparation of
evacuation plan?
It is a basic tenet of modern disaster relief, to produce a good set of
plans and to make certain all 'stakeholders' are informed.
My best wishes to all Montserratians in this stressful time!

*]~~~<                     Ben L. Oostdam, Ph.D.                     >~~~[*

On Sat, 9 Aug 1997, Brian Meade wrote:

> Via MNI-INFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Bennette...
> I am a loss for words..........why does one feel so helpless...I would have
> thought that if the MNI residents are aware of the logistics of an
> evacuation plan and what to do in the 'unlikely' event of an off island
> evacuation, they would feel a 'little more' comfortable. At least 'they
> too' would be able to make thier 'own plans' to secure whatever personal
> effects that they may have.....JUST IN CASE!!!!
> Brian
> 
> ----------
> > From: Niki Roach 
> > To: Anthony Tarley-Reid 
> > Subject: Re: Evacuation?
> > Date: Friday, 08 August, 1997 3:52 PM
> > 
> > Hi Tony:
> > Bennette from Boston:
> > What are you saying? After the June 25 tragedy, the CM was asked about 
> > these plans - in fact prior to that, the day Baroness Symons was 
> > departing after her firts trip to MNI, I suggested that these 
> > evacuation plans be published. He was later asked about them when he 
> > appeared not to have any knowledge of them. He said then he wasn't sure 
> > at what stage they were at.
> > I think one of the greatest tragedy of the crisis, is that the CM had 
> > not shown any new position in July different from the one he gave in 
> > January when he said (he) his government was briefed and kept informed 
> > on matters relative to the management of the crisis.
> > If that were true it would be difficult to put many of those necessary 
> > things in place; it would be asking too much of the Governor, wouldn't 
> > it?
> > There had been drills in response to injuries from pyroclastic flows 
> > last year, but those are the only ones I can recall. Evacuation plans 
> > have been in place and reportedly built and improved as we go along 
> > since August 1995.
> > Bennette Roach
> > Any comments may be sent to me at: ccfvni@webtv.net
> > . . . The Electronic Evergreen, courtesy of GEM Radio Network
> . . . The Electronic Evergreen, courtesy of GEM Radio Network