Disaster Response, GIS, Mapping, Volcano, Volunteering

Responding to the Volcanic Eruption in St. Vincent and the Grenadines by Volunteering for Remote Deployment.

“Alert Check: Volcanic Eruption St Vincent and the Grenadines, please sign up your availability”. Those were the words which greeted me as I checked my MapAction email. Simple words, but so profound for me. Those words really hit hard, and hit home! I could not ignore that call for action. I signed up for remote deployment. It turned out to be my first official response deployment as a MapActioner!

Like many persons within the region, I have been observing the volcanic dome growth in St. Vincent and the Grenadines since late 2020. As the dome grew magma continued to fill the space around the old 1979 dome as depicted in the images below.

Source: Scientific Resource Centre
Photo Credit: NEMO, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Photo Credit: NEMO, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

A period of elevated volcano-tectonic (VT) earthquakes which began on 23rd March 2021 gave an indication to scientists that the situation at La Soufriere deteriorated. An evacuation order was issued on April 8, 2021 by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.

Evacuation Order Issued

The very next day, on April 9, 2021, La Soufrière Volcano erupted! The eruption was very visible to persons around the world due to the prominence of posts on social media. It was easy to see live feeds and video posts as the action unfolded. Images of the massive mushroom plume created from the eruption, brought back so many memories for me. It was beautifully dangerous!

Having experienced the eruption of our very own Soufrière Hills Volcano in Montserrat and having lived with an active volcano for the past two decades, I empathized with the residents of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Being displaced from one’s home to live in a shelter is no easy feat. Furthermore, having to leave behind, the beloved island you call home, is even more challenging. I knew the road ahead for many persons would be a long, difficult process, hence my conviction to provide support in the best way I knew how: – by providing geospatial support.

It was great news to discover that Mike was also selected as a member of this remote deployment team for the St. Vincent Response. Mike and I were recruited at the same time in 2019 to form part of the Caribbean Section of MapAction. The picture below is a throw-back to June 2019 in Trinidad. We had several days of intense conversion training sessions. In retrospect, those days have really set the foundation for our ability to deliver during this response.

Our team was led by Matt who resides in New Zealand. He is very knowledgeable and has significant experience in deployments. We also received additional support from another volunteer Pip, who is located in the United Kingdom (UK). We supported the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) for a period of 3 weeks. Subsequently, another two volunteers, Ant and Jorge, were deployed to support the environmental work with the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) response. We represented different time zones and locations from across the globe.

This unique team selection, worked out very well, as it offered 24 hour coverage for the St. Vincent response. Mike and I, being located in the Caribbean region, were uniquely placed to attend briefing meetings in our local time zone and follow up with any new developments; while Matt provided another level of support from New Zealand as his day began when ours was coming to an end. No sleep lost – I guess! Our daily briefing meetings allowed us to report our findings during that day and allowed us to strategize in the allocation and completion of tasks.

MapAction has mastered the ability to use different tools to share and work together in a remote working environment. In my opinion, the COVID-19 pandemic has only strengthened this area. The image below highlights some of the main tools we used to ensure smooth deployment coordination.

One of the major needs of any emergency response is geospatial data. “Data scramble” as the term is coined, involves the researching, collating and organizing of all the spatial data available for a particular location and ensuring that it is fit for purpose. The data collected was prepared by transforming it into the correct projected coordinate system to allow for overlay and integration between different datasets. Datasets included administrative boundaries, such as parishes, census districts, shelter locations, elevation data, transportation networks, buildings, land use, hazard zones, and health centres just to name a few. These were placed in appropriately, themed-folder locations so that it would be easy for deployed members to find them during a response.

Coordinating with CDEMA, MapAction provided mapping support to to aid in visualization of the situation on the ground. The maps produced are available on Map Action’s website.

One of the first maps prepared is a reference map of the area. I consider this to be one of the most important maps to be prepared, as it gives context to the area of interest. Everything else is built upon this.

The basemap shown on the left below is detailed with settlement locations, roads, parishes, village names, rivers and elevation data. The baseline map sown on the right, highlights the population figures of St.Vincent derived from the most recent 2012 census survey. This allowed us to understand how the population is distributed throughout the affected areas.

To provide further understanding, situational maps were prepared. Data being shared through situation reports from the Emergency Management Agency, allowed us to transform the data into visual representations of what is happening in the ground. The maps on the left, shows movement of displaced persons from affected communities in the red, orange and yellow zones. The map on the right, shows the location and status of the shelters.

Additionally a 3D webmap was created. You can explore it here. It shows the key volcanic events and hazards of the La Soufrière volcano. This dynamic map allows you to explore the data which was used to create the maps above and offers a better understanding of the risk posed by the volcanic eruption in St. Vincent.

3D Webmap showing hazards

Working so closely with the data from St. Vincent during this period of time, allowed me to become very familiar with areas and village locations in St. Vincent. Seeing feeds on social media allowed me to identify quickly with where things were happening. Names such as as Chateaubelair, Troumaca, Byera, Owia and Fancy stood out to me!

During my remote deployment, some acronyms were mentioned frequently during our briefing meetings. I eventually got the hang of them! These all form part of the response mechanism which helps the crisis on the ground to be addressed. Each of these teams highlighted below, played a very important function in being able to get supplies into St. Vincent, assessing the needs of the population and understanding the impact of the disaster on the island.

AcronymDescription
CDRUCARICOM Disaster Relief Unit
COSTCARICOM Operations Support Team
DARTDisaster Assessment Response Team
RCCRegional Coordination Centre
RNAT Rapid Needs Assessment Team
SRCSeismic Research Centre
UNDACUnited Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination
Useful Acronymns

A number of other international organizations responded to the crisis in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, by activating their disaster response mechanisms and programs. The links below provide additional insight into their response activities.

  1. Copernicus Emergency Management Service
  2. The International Charter Space and Major Disasters
  3. Maxar: Open Data Program
  4. Nasa Disaster Program

Satellite images like the ones below, were captured as time progressed and further mapping and analysis was carried out. Derived information proved useful to responders on the ground.

MapAction is known to respond in-person during an emergency response deployment. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has limited this, my experience through this remote response deployment has shown that MapAction’s involvement is still significant in providing geospatial information to support the humanitarian needs of persons in crisis. I do look forward to future deployments with MapAction!

Lavern Rogers-Ryan is a geospatial consultant specialising in disaster risk management and recovery. She is currently head of the GIS Centre within the Government of Montserrat. Learn more about geospatial services in disasters at www.lavernrogersryan.com.

Disaster Risk Reduction, GIS, Imagery, Mapping, Volcano

My career in GIS was subconsciously influenced 25 years ago by the eruption of Soufriere Hills Volcano

July 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the eruption of the Soufriere Hills Volcano on Montserrat and presents an opportune moment for reflection.

I was only 13 years old at the time, but I do remember the chaos surrounding these events. It was a very uncertain time for those of us living in Montserrat. At the time I attended the Seventh-day Adventist School in Delvins. I remember exiting the classroom and looking up towards the heavens, like many of my peers. The sky was very dark that day, no one seemed to know what was happening. The picture below is symbolic of what has been etched in my memory.

Emission of ash from Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/hazards/volcanoes/montserrat/ash_and_mud.html

I remember the hustle and bustle of parents coming to collect their children. Unfortunately, some of us never had the opportunity to attend school in Montserrat ever again and our childhood friendships and dreams of experiencing life together on Montserrat were dismantled. My mother thought it best to send myself and my brother to live in Antigua with my Aunt because of the uncertainty with schooling and living in Montserrat. Now being a mother myself, I understand her decision.

Just as we began settling into the new norm of life in Antigua, Hurricane Luis, a powerful category 4 hurricane, hit Antigua on September 5th, 1995. This hurricane disseminated the country of Antigua causing damage and destruction to 45% of the residences on Antigua as it passed near 30 miles (48 km) to the north of the island. A recount of Hurricane Luis by Mr. Dale Destin can be found https://268weather.wordpress.com/tag/hurricane-luis/. This storm basically flattened many homes in Antigua, and my Aunt’s home was no exception. Thankfully, to meaningful friendships, my Aunt was able to find accommodation for us and her family elsewhere. So many additional complexities came about from these developments. For example, I remember having to attend school on a shift basis (interestingly, similar to my daughter’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic now) and spending many nights studying by flashlight and candle light in order to fulfill the requirements for the next day of school.

Although, I was out of Montserrat physically, Montserrat was constantly on my mind. We were always tuned in to ZJB radio to keep abreast of any updates and mostly because my mother was still on island. As a matter of fact, she never migrated!

My brother graduated from secondary school in Antigua in June 1997, and it was around this time that our capital, Plymouth was buried under pyroclastic flows (pictured below). There was no way, that my Mom was going to allow him to go back home. I believe that she was scared even for her own safety! I started thinking about whether or not I will ever be able to identify areas in Plymouth again. Such a tragedy!

Plymouth buried under pyroclastic flows, 1997
Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2013/05/soufriere-hills-volcano/100509/

After I graduated secondary school in Antigua in a year later, there was still uncertainty in Montserrat. My Mom admonished that it was not the ideal time to return and encouraged me to use the opportunity to continue on to tertiary education. So I ventured even further away from home to pursue a 4 year Computer Science degree in Trinidad. Based on the ongoing situation in Montserrat, I opted to take summer courses which resulted in me completing my degree earlier. Foremost in my mind was how I could make a meaningful contribution to my island home.

I returned home after University graduation in 2002. I was pleased that so many new homes had been built in the north of the island and although businesses were scattered throughout the northern area, things were returning to some sense of normalcy.

New homes built in Lookout, Montserrat (Picture taken in May 2002)
Source:https://www.yachtanju.com/montserrat.htm

I remember having the opportunity to discuss GIS with a consultant who was visiting Montserrat to conduct training. He explained that it was a relatively new field of technology, but it can be used for disaster management along with many other things. He encouraged me to research, applying my knowledge of my recently earned degree to this emerging science.

I delved in, and the rest is history! I completed a Master’s degree in GIS within 3 years of being introduced to the topic. My research topic centered around the “Integration of Remote Sensing Techniques and GIS to Detect and Update Changes in Land Cover as a Result of Intra-island Migration on Montserrat.” Being able to apply my knowledge of GIS to the redevelopment of Montserrat and further assist in disaster management on island, has been my motivation. In retrospect, I can truly say that the eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano 25 years ago, has influenced my career in GIS to date.

Post Script:

I want to say a hearty thank you to my Mom, who sacrificed everything and ensured that I had a Montserrat to come back home to! I love you Mommy!

Mommy and I.

Learn more about GIS in my previous blog posts below:

Lavern Rogers-Ryan is a geospatial consultant specialising in disaster risk management and recovery. She is currently head of the GIS Centre within the Government of Montserrat. Learn more about geospatial services in disasters at www.lavernrogersryan.com.