Each workshop is tailored for the particular context, but as a rule, they always include presentations, focus groups, and a field trip.
The range of invited participants is also context-dependent, although crisis-response groups, government spokespersons and community representatives are always present. At each workshop, an event timeline is created by the workshop participants. This timeline records on paper physical and socially significant events before, during and after a volcanic crisis and provides a foundation upon which further multi-disciplinary data, gathered from other sources i.
Adopting a timeline-based approach provides a way of tracking events and impact pathways of the volcanic crisis on people and society, and illustrates responses and phases of change.
In this paper, we present the results of this multi-phase data gathering approach, focused on analysing vulnerability during the SHV crisis. The forensic investigation of the SHV crisis was centred around a two-day workshop, held in Montserrat, in September The aim of the workshop was to explore the extent to which Montserrat represents a resilient society by identifying the dynamic components and circumstances that have largely contributed to resilience, and those that have undermined it.
Approximately 70 people attended the workshop, with scientists, government officials, disaster managers and community representatives in attendance. Involvement of the local community was a crucial component of the workshop, offering them an opportunity to have their voices heard, and to share individual and collective experiences and opinions.
Workshops participants were carefully chosen to ensure that: a numbers of scientists did not outweigh non-scientists; b numbers of ex-patriates did not outweigh Montserratians; and c most participants had been involved in, or had memory of, the SHV crisis.
The second theme was extended further by way of a series of charrettes to allow specialist groups to divide and re-form as mixed stakeholder groups.
The final afternoon of the workshop was open to the public and included a panel session with key responders during the crisis. Each break out group was recorded and extensive notes were taken. These conversations provided a rich qualitative data set, which helped both to guide the choice of who to interview post-workshop and to inform the set of questions posed. Sixteen post-workshops interviews were conducted with members of the Montserratian population, government representatives, decision makers and the UK-based Montserratian community.
These were almost always conducted in the office or home of the interviewee, lasted between 20—60 minutes, and were recorded and transcribed. To analyse the vulnerability component of volcanic risk, the evidence gathered from the workshop and interviews, along with existing material academic, grey and policy literature , were collated, triangulated b for validation and coded against a set of 14 impact and response themes. The themes of this outcome-based analysis c were selected for their consistency across the evidence base and included: ashfall; stress; evacuations; shelters; migration drivers; buffer zones; clean up; rebuilding services; and rebuilding livelihoods.
A second phase of coding focused on vulnerable groups within these broad themes: original residents of the south; original residents of the north; shelter population early in the crisis ; shelter dependents longer-term ; relocatees to the north home owners ; relocatees to the north renters ; residents of buffer zones; migrants to the UK non-assisted ; migrants to the UK assisted ; migrants elsewhere; remittance receivers; returnees; and in-migrants.
Again, these groups emerged from the data due to extent and regularity of references across the evidence base. We acknowledge that these are not uniform groups, but for some extended families which intersected several of these social groups, the combination of circumstances has exacerbated vulnerability and impaired recovery.
Drawing on this outcome-based analysis, here we focus our narrative on three particularly vulnerable groups: shelter dependents longer-term ; relocatees to the north, and migrants to the UK assisted. While it is recognised that rapid team-based qualitative inquiry can have limitations, particularly insensitivity to the social context and susceptibility to bias Chambers , this was minimized in this case by: 1 encouraging a strategic mix of people to participate in the workshop i.
Before presenting results of our analyses, the following section briefly summarises the SHV crisis, the short term response, and its impact on the Montserratian population. While there have been five phases of volcanic activity since the crisis began, we have focused on the phases 1—3.
The volcanological literature on the crisis is incredibly rich, and more comprehensive descriptions of events can be found elsewhere e. Evacuees reoccupied their properties two weeks afterwards, but volcanic activity temporarily forced them out again in December. On the 3 rd April , Plymouth was evacuated for the final time, and a state of public emergency was declared. Over 7, people had to be relocated, and 1, people were housed in temporary public shelters.
Living conditions were widely viewed as unpleasant; evacuees complained about overcrowding and lack of privacy, poor sanitation, and lack of access to good nutrition. A voluntary evacuation scheme was set up on the 23 rd April, offering Montserratians an opportunity to move to the United Kingdom, but only 1, people registered for this package. Several interviewees stated that this owed to hope that the eruption was short-lived.
The risk status of each zone was modified according to fluctuating alert levels, issued by the Government of Montserrat and based on recommendations from scientists at the MVO. All areas were accessible at the lowest alert level. Both the alert scheme and the maps were revised several times over the years Figure 2 , but these modifications resulted in some misunderstanding between the public, civil authorities and the scientists, and occasionally disregard to follow official warnings Aspinall et al.
On the 25 th June , a series of pyroclastic flows destroyed settlements and infrastructure including the airport in the East from Trants to Dyers and killed 19 people Loughlin et al.
Salem, Old Towne and Frith were evacuated in August zone E; Figure 2 , forcing towns in the north to accommodate a further 1, people. Numbers in shelters rose from to a peak of around 1, Clay et al. On the 19 th August , an assisted passage scheme was announced, which provided financial support for Montserratians to move to either the UK or a regional location.
Over 4, people registered for the relocation package, and while some took advantage of pre-existing networks in the UK and moved in with friends and family Shotte ; McLeman , many were re-housed on estates in UK cities. On the 21 st May , the UK offered a permanent settlement deal to evacuees from Montserrat. The risk map was simplified in September final revision in April , and microzones were replaced by three broad zones: exclusion, central and northern Figure 2 iii.
This helped to reduce the numbers living in shelters to Numbers of immigrants f began to rise to fill occupations left by evacuees. A new housing development was built at Lookout in the North, further reducing the shelter population to The volcano resumed dome growth in November , beginning phase 2 of 5 of the eruption.
This was to be the longest phase of activity, pausing in July This phase was characterised by dome collapse events, sending pyroclastic flows down the Tar River Valley in the south-east Figure 2. Residents were given 48 hours to evacuate. In the months that followed days , residents were permitted to return to their homes in the exclusion zone between The Belham area was not permanently re-inhabited until after 13 July following a major dome collapse which greatly reduced risk to the Belham Valley.
In August , a new lava dome began to develop, but it was not until the 20 th May that explosions occurred, prefigured by the second largest dome collapse since the reactivation of SHV. Heavy ash falls affected most of the island, and required considerable investment from the Government of Montserrat to support further clean-up efforts.
The necessity for extra manpower encouraged further immigration. The population according to the census was 4, Results from the time-series analytical component of the forensic study are presented in Figure 3.
Data used to inform this analysis was gathered from the forensic workshop, key informant interviews and available literature. While this impact timeline provides a useful illustration of the critical moments and phases in terms of social impacts on livelihoods and wellbeing to all Montserratians, vulnerability itself is a complex social characteristic and is more difficult to chart. While it can change, those changes are not necessarily sequenced by disaster events.
However, the strength of impacts for different social groups can yield information on how vulnerability plays out, especially in the longer-term. Essentially the timeline becomes a way to frame the vulnerability story of the disadvantaged, or those with the least capability to recover. Annotated visualisation of the time-series analytical component of vulnerability.
Major volcanic, social and political events are shown. Dates and details of evacuations are outlined on the right of the image. The five phases of volcanic activity are shown at the bottom of the image. Most workshop participants and key informants suggested that this was due to these groups being in a prolonged vulnerable state as compared to other the broad groupings which emerged from the second coding phase.
Here we present results from the experience and perspectives of members of these groups, and those who liaised directly with them, along with an explanation of the antecedent conditions that led to a more vulnerable position, the consequences and the long term situation. Those evacuees who remained in temporary shelters were predominantly families and individuals with fewer livelihood assets. Following the first evacuations in , schools and churches were made into emergency shelters.
In April , metal prefabricated structures were erected in Brades, and timber chalets were erected for displaced people following the second evacuation of Plymouth. These could accommodate up to 20 people. Funding for emergency housing was not allocated until July As Clay et al , p. For example, the metal shelters, which were reported to be unbearably hot to stay in during the day Skelton , were still occupied three years after the onset of the crisis Pattullo In her account of the disaster, Pattullo , p.
Personnel working at the Emergency Operations Centre EOC , who were in charge of maintaining the shelters, found it particularly difficult to dispose of human waste:.
They were intended to be in use for two days. They were, in fact, used for more than two years. It is possible that this led to the increased levels of gastro-intestinal illness that was recorded during this period of the crisis. Many people were reliant on shelters, with up to 1, people in August forced to tolerate crowded conditions, as the following quotes describe:. Those are the ones that I saw in the shelters really suffer…. Now a church is designed to have a two hour, at the most, celebration, and you return home.
But when you convert that now to a place where folk are living, no partitions, and the restroom facilities were not designed for 60— people. The EOC were also in charge of food distribution, although provisions were mostly canned goods which were easier to disseminate. The quality of the food soon began to raise issues:. Unfortunately this desire to help those in need, and to continue earning a living, encouraged some farmers to re-enter the exclusion zone.
During the inquest g into the deaths of 25 th June , the jury decided that the failure of British and Montserratian governments to provide land for displaced farmers had contributed to the nine of the nineteen deaths. If the presence of standing crops was a pull factor, so it appears that the conditions of shelter life were a push factor to re-enter the exclusion zone.
Several workshop participants commented that some of those who died had either refused to move to the shelters or had returned to spend time at their homes in the exclusion zone.
Two interviewees spoke not only of the physical deprivations of the shelters but also of personal security issues such as incidences of aggression, power struggles, rape and sexual abuse:. There was some public disobedience fuelled by treatment in the shelters, and protests broke out particularly in Salem. While this tension was ameliorated through the assisted passage scheme, conditions did not improve for those that stayed in shelters. As Clay et al.
One of the unanticipated negative consequences of families abandoning Montserrat was that many left their elderly on the island. A shelter for the elderly opened initially as many of the aging population required care as well as accommodation, but the insanitary and crowded conditions in this particular shelter drove several of the occupants to return to their homes in the exclusion zone Loughlin et al. There were reports of elderly becoming depressed and anxious Avery ; Stair and Pottinger , and in response, the government created three permanent residential homes.
There may have also been longer-term chronic health and mental health effects of extended shelter residence across the dependent population Stair and Pottinger ; Hincks et al. While there is no concrete evidence for cause and effect, several focus groups claimed that poor diet modest intake of fresh produce and lack of exercise led to an increase in depression, hypertension, obesity and [symptoms of] diabetes. Today, almost 20 years after the onset of the crisis, there are still people occupying shelter accommodation Sword-Daniels et al.
Life for those outside the shelters was also challenging, especially for those struggling to establish homes and livelihoods following displacement from the south. As several focus groups participants and interviewees reported, many non-migrants who relocated to the north of Montserrat were initially reliant on the hospitality of family and friends or rented accommodation.
This group included people who had never had substantial financial assets, but also home-owners from the south who were already paying mortgages for their abandoned homes some people are still repaying loans on empty dwellings today. It was also due to shortage of available land:. Further, the shortage of available land in the north meant that land prices rose sharply. While this had an effect on the Government of Montserrat, who needed to purchase agricultural land from private landowners to start building housing developments, soaring prices particularly affected farmers, who could not afford to purchase replacement land:.
This further marginalised this rural social group. The destruction of farmland in the south meant that farmers lost their land, crops and livestock, and faced severe challenges in re-establishing their livelihood in the north Rozdilsky, Those that were able to rent land were faced with challenges of cultivating in unproductive, infertile soils on small plots, resulting in low yields.
Consequently, few farmers could make a living solely from farming, so many had to obtain a second occupation such as fishing or construction Halcrow Group and the Montserrat National Assessment Team Some farmers who were able to transfer livestock from the south either did not have land sizeable enough for pasture, or were not able to build enclosures, so livestock were often unconfined. This in turn threatened crops of arable farmers. According to one interviewee, there were also reportedly instances in which tenant farmers were exploited, with landowners demanding the return of rented land, only after the land had been cleared by the tenants and started producing crops.
Overall, the farming sector of Montserrat has not only diminished but changed in trade from export to selling on-island and subsistence farming. The small population of the island 11, people was evacuated in to the north of Montserrat as well as to neighbouring islands and the UK.
Despite the evacuations, 19 people were killed by the eruptions as a small group of people chose to stay behind to watch over their crops. Volcanic eruptions and lahars have destroyed large areas of Montserrat. The capital, Plymouth, has been covered in layers of ash and mud. Many homes and buildings have been destroyed, including the only hospital, the airport and many roads. Maybe because I lost my husband so suddenly.
I wanted to stay with my children. Almost two decades later, she and her son still live there — not impoverished, but, like many Montserratians in similar situations, they are one strong hurricane from losing everything all over again.
A ride on one of the vans-turned-buses — the closest thing to public transportation on the mountainous island — reveals a nation of contrasts, and not just when it comes to the riverbeds gray with volcanic ash overlooked by lush green forests. Within the northern part of the square-mile island, one can find homes without electricity and running water within minutes of seaside villas.
There is also an increased risk of fire in the wood structures. Hogan said his office is pushing for comprehensive housing legislation by the end of the year, but did not provide details on their plans. Over the past two decades, the governments of the United Kingdom, European Union, Cuba and other Caribbean countries have contributed to the development of a new settlement in the north, now largely populated by once-displaced Montserratians, in the hopes of alleviating the housing shortage.
There have been five governments in Montserrat since the volcano began erupting. The Montserratian government has built homes and sold them at a loss, but a housing shortage still persists as aid monies are prioritized for other projects.
Many Montserratians work for the government, funded by the United Kingdom. Otherwise, income on the island largely consists of a patchwork of jobs, including taxi drivers, day laborers, running a small bars or restaurant, or selling homegrown produce along the road. The tourism sector, while growing, remains a small part of the economy, as access to the island consists of ferry or eight-seat air service from Antigua — weather permitting.
Land ownership is valued, and property is passed between family members. If another person wants to buy a new piece of land, tradition dictates that everyone in the family must agree to sell, she said. So when the volcano forced the evacuation of two-thirds of the island — its most populated areas — to shelters in the largely rural north, accessible land on the square-mile island became precious for those who stayed, as much of it was already privately owned.
Having lost her own home to the volcano, Willock heard a friend in the north was parsing up his land and selling it piece-by-piece and got one of the last plots. She said she is one of the lucky ones.
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