Volcanic dust dissipates in USVI

~~Adz:Right~~CHARLOTTE AMALIE, St. Thomas-RESIDENTS of the U. S. Virgin Islands finally experienced relief on Tuesday evening (July 22) as a change in wind direction moved a lingering plume of volcanic dust and ash away from the territory. 

Montserrat’s Soufriere Hills volcano blasted smoke and ash into the air several times on Sunday and Monday and the debris was then picked up by a southeasterly wind and carried in the direction of the U.S.V.I.

While the dark cloud largely missed the islands, St. Croix came under its shadow Monday morning and residents were advised to take respiratory precautions by Brian Seeley, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

Prior to the ash cloud coming to the island persons who suffer from asthma or other lung conditions were already under the advisement of local health officials to stay indoors as much as possible and drink plenty of water due to large amounts of Saharan dust that were brought into the area by a passing tropical depression on Sunday.

The ash and dust from Montserrat’s eruptions exacerbated the situation and the public was advised Monday that the condition could get worse.

 “If the volcano's emissions continue for the next few days, a shift in the winds could bring more ash and smoke toward the Virgin Islands,” Seeley said.

Fortunately, much of the dust had settled or been blown out of the area by Tuesday night, allowing residents to breathe much easier.

While Roderick Stewart of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory said that the recent pyroclastic surge of gas and debris “did not threaten any of the island's 4,500 inhabitants,” it did mark the second time in 2008 that such an incident released large amounts of debris into the atmosphere.

A pyroclastic flow is a hot, dry, fast-moving mixture of ash, pumice, rock fragments and gas that forms during explosive eruptions or the collapse of a lava dome. "This is just a bit of activity that does happen here from time to time," Stewart noted.

The Soufriere Hills volcano continues to disturb life in Montserrat since becoming active on July 18, 1995. In 1997 it unleashed a major eruption that killed 19 people and destroyed the southern capital city of Plymouth. Following the incident, the population was moved to the north side where a new capital was constructed.