SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Empty cruise ships were scheduled to arrive Friday at the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent to help transport thousands of people who evacuated their homes under the fiery glow of La Soufrière volcano which officials said could erupt at any moment.
Shelters filled up overnight as people living in the northern part of the island sought safer ground under government orders, with a string of car lights twinkling through the darkened mountains.
“They are settling in quite nicely,” Doris McIntosh, deputy manager of one shelter, said in a phone interview. She noted, though, that meals were not being served yet. “Because of rushed evacuations, some things are not in place.”
Roughly 16,000 people live in the red zone and required evacuation, Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center, told The Associated Press.