A Youthful Nightmare Revisited

Dorothy White has no doubts God can save Montserrat from the wrath of Tropical Storm Iris looming 140 miles to the southeast. She’s less sure when it comes to the volcano smoking eight miles away in the same direction.

White, 76 and blind, first felt the rumblings of the Soufriere Hills 59 years ago, when she was only 16. For the last month, she has relived her youthful nightmare.

“My innards haven’t stopped shaking since it started,” she said, holding her left side as if to steady herself. “When I was a young girl it scared me with its rumbling, but it wasn’t ready to explode. Now it’s ready.”

The volcano has not had a full-scale eruption in thousands of years, but it began spewing steam and ash July 18. Authorities evacuated the southern half of the island this week after the volcano blew its third vent, shooting steam and ash 7,000 feet into the sky and plunging the capital, Plymouth, into darkness for 25 minutes.

White was evacuated from a Plymouth nursing home to St. Peter’s School, a temporary home she shares with 33 other elderly people.