The dome atop Montserrats Soufriere Hills
Volcano collapsed on May 20, sending volcanic debris cascading down
its eastern flanks into the Caribbean. Billowing clouds of ash shot
more than 10 miles into the sky, according to reports.
There were no
injuries on Montserrat, but the decreased visibility from the ash
cloud cancelled numerous flights on May 21 between islands in the
region and also to and from the Caribbean and Miami, New York, San
Juan and Toronto.
According to a
statement on the Montserrat Tourist Boards Web site [www.visitmontserrat.com], the island is open for
business.
We would like the
traveling public to know that Montserrat remains open for visitors
and is still safe to visit, according to Ernestine Cassell,
director of tourism for the Montserrat Tourist Board. Tourism
businesses in the north are fully operational and most
establishments in the affected areas should be back to normal in
the next week.
The dome had been
building since last August and formed the highest part of the
3,000-foot volcano.
The Soufriere
Hills Volcano sprang to life in 1995. A second eruption in 1997
buried much of the islands southern half, including the capital of
Plymouth.
Southern
Montserrat remains an exclusion zone, and the 5,000 people who now
live in Montserrat reside in the north.
For further
information, visit the Montserrat Tourist Boards Web site at www.visitmontserrat.com; for updates on volcanic
activity, visit the Montserrat Volcano Observatory Web site at www.mvo.ms.
To contact
the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Gay Nagle Myers
at [email protected].