St. Vincent and the Grenadines urgent appeal

Volcanic Ash

May 13, 2021

Toronto sailor, John Edwards, wintering in Bequia 30 miles away, shows the fallout from the eruption Credit John Edwards

Following the April 9th eruption of the La Soufrière volcano, popular cruising destination St. Vincent and the Grenadines has issued an urgent appeal to the public for relief for those directly impacted. The volcano continues to erupt. Explosions and accompanying ashfall, of similar or larger magnitude, are likely to continue to occur over the next few days at least.

Over 16,000 people have had to be evacuated from their homes in the Red Zone to the safer Green Zone to shelters, personal homes and hotels. The need for assistance is tremendous as the country battles with excessive amounts of ashfall, water shortages, and electricity outages.

East Coast St. VincentThe east coast of St. Vincent has beautiful, black sand beaches.

The National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) has released a list of the following items and KLC Shippers in Toronto has agreed to offer free storage and shipment of these relief supplies from Canada to St. Vincent:

Folding cots

Blankets

Tents (10x10ft or 20x20ft)

Sleeping mats

Respirator mask with filters

Goggles

Reflective vests

Caution tape

Hygiene kits

Non-perishable food items

Clothing (NEW)

5-gallon buckets

The items can be sent to/dropped off at: KLC Shippers, 50 Tiffield Road, Unit 15, Scarborough, ON M1V 5B7 416-291-6733

People can also purchase items on Amazon.ca and send orders directly to the address above to the attention of NEMO SVG.

Additionally, financial contributions can be made via a GoFundMe campaign that has been started by CARI-ON SVG Disaster Preparedness, a non-profit organization based in Toronto.

GlobalMedic, a Canadian charity and disaster response agency, has also organized a local relief effort, sending food and family emergency kits with water purification units and hygiene items to help displaced families in St. Vincent. Click to donate – from the dropdown ‘Fund’ menu, you can select ‘4 – Saint Vincent – Volcanic Eruption.’

Currently, residents in the immediate area of the volcano have been evacuated to government shelters, as well as off the island on cruise ships in the region that rushed to assist in the effort.

For the most up-to-date information from NEMO, including government bulletins and status updates, please visit https://www.facebook.com/nemosvg

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