Volcano Could Force Evacuation Montserrat Shelters Fill Up As British Aid Voluntary Exodus

A British warship pulled into port on this Caribbean island Monday to help carry away residents who want to escape the rumbling Soufriere Hills volcano.

In London, the British minister responsible for the colony said he couldn’t rule out the possibility that a cataclysmic eruption could engulf Montserrat, an island 250 miles southeast of Puerto Rico.

“The consequences of such an event, if it did occur, would be extreme and anywhere on the whole island could be significantly threatened,” said George Foulkes, the international development minister.

Citing a growing threat from the volcano in southern Montserrat, officials announced Saturday they were preparing for a voluntary evacuation of the island.

Local authorities stressed Monday there was no threat yet to the northern part of the island, where Montserrat’s 4,000 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.”

Shelter overcrowding, rather than the threat of a cataclysmic explosion, is forcing the government to craft a voluntary evacuation plan, said government spokesman Herman Sergeant.

“There’s no more accommodation up to the north,” said Sergeant, who, like many residents, has lived in his car since his neighborhood was declared off-limits Saturday.

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 villages in an off-limits zone, killing as many as 20 people.