This Covid-19 pandemic has been devastating for people all around the world, but for those people living on the Caribbean island of St-Vincent, it has been more difficult.
The La Soufrière volcano, which is an active volcano in the small Caribbean island erupted and cause a new wave of socio-economic, humanitarian, and environmental repercussions to the people of Saint Vincent and Grenadines.
This particular incident stretched the already existing national response capacity and thereby set the developments of the country by at least one decade.
The effects of this eruption are massive and its economic impact is profound.
Just from the preliminary assessment, we can see that the eruption will cost the country around at least 50 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP)
Significant losses were reported in housing, agriculture, and infrastructure that amounts to around $300 million.
Vegetable crops that were near the La Soufrière were destroyed, reports suggest that 90 percent of the tree crops and around 80 percent of the root crops were decimated.
This large-scale destruction of agriculture will have a long-lasting implication on the livelihood and a much larger scale, the entire food security of the country is treated.
There have been more than 30 explosive eruptions from the La Soufrière’sfrière’sfrière’sfrière’s since April 9 that severely affected many other eastern Caribbean islands like Barbados.
The volcanic ash from the explosion covered the entire country of Barbados.
To add to the woes, geologists believe that La Soufrière is expected to remain active for months, which means that Barbados will be continued to get affected by the ash deposits.
These severe deposits of ash could entirely damage the homes and infrastructure of the country because of the abrasive and acidic quality of the fresh ash.
The socioecological scar that is caused by more than 100 million m3 of fallen ash on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines islands has caused massive destruction to the community infrastructure, livelihood, and ecosystems due to the pyroclastic density currents.
The aftermath of this eruption is massive; the management and clean-up of the fall are very important to avoid potential socio-ecological risks and could severely threaten the food chains, public health, and local economies in the days to come.
The government request the OCHA and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) their aid and assistance.
In furtherance of this request, OCHA and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) have deployed their joint assessment team to the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines.
This team is composed of many environmental experts to aid and assist the national response efforts invoking the provision of specialized environmental assistance.
The objective of the OCHA-UNEP mission is focused on making a preliminary check, especially on the environmental health risks.
The other factors that are evaluated include the quality of the air, contamination of soil and water, and the sanitation of the shelters.
The air quality at the island is considered to be moderately unsafe, according to the guidelines issued by the WHO, and makes it one of the most important issues to be addressed.
The team of expert has to evaluate the important environmental and other health hazard risks to identify those areas that require immediate intervention and needs development of technical recommendation.
This recommendation can then be passed to the national authorities, who can then manage the environmental destruction and will also help to evaluate the response and recovery process.
Ash and debris cleanup has been identified as the priority action to be taken by the government to ensure rehabilitation and recovery effects.
The OCHA-UNEP is extensively working with humanitarian partners and regional institutions to aid and assist the national authorities along with the recommendations for the waste and ash removal waste management.
The estimated cost for a clean-up of the entire country from the fallen ash is about $30 million.
A very quick cleanup of the ash country is very important because the rainy season is around the corner, it will also mix with the lave and other loose volcanic material and thereby flow to the rivers and pollute them.
This flow could be highly destructive and this concrete-like flow will also increase during the rainy months and will thereby bury anything that stands in their way.
A new satellite team has been deployed by the OCHA-UNEP Joint Environment Unit (JEU) to join and assist the need of the national damage, loos, and assessment efforts that have introduced by the government.
Being one of the most water-stressed countries, the needs of Bardos is very important.
The mission that is deployed in Barbados will assess the water and land resources of the nation among the concerts of the contaminations caused by volcanic ash.
A lot of commitment has been shown by both Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados and are trying their level best to address the environmental emergencies and dimensions.
Both Barbados and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were already members of the Regional Environment and Emergency Preparedness Network, in which Barbados is a founder member.
The Eastern Caribbean JEU mission is an important component that represents the wider response to the larger humanitarian recovery and response that is led by the respective countries.
To mitigate the public health risks and to provide a resilient and sustainable recovery in these two Eastern Caribbean countries, mainstreaming of the efforts are necessary.
Moreover, these countries are heavily dependent on their environment for their economic development and growth.
These small developing island nations are now more vulnerable to subsequent disasters that stem from this eruption because of the large environmental wounds caused by this disaster.
A looming hurricane season also makes matters worse for both countries.
The JEU has been for more than 25 years associated with OCHA’s humanitarian coordination networks and capacities along with UNEP’s environmental expertise to facilitate and support the response of the Government to the multidimensional, complex environmental consequences of emergencies and have now deployed more than 200 missions in more than 100 countries since it was established in 1994.
