A story and event that touched me.
ASHED St.Pierre - Mount Pelee - Martinique - Caribbean
If she could talk....she might say "Pelee blew his top."
She was part of the flamboyant life in the Paris of the Caribbean. Decorating the verandah of the theatre. (Look at her thumb.)
Mount Pelee, today is covered with a green carpet. And many days shaded by soft beautiful clouds. A perfect backdrop for an interesting town.
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26 April 1902 passenger steamship, the Roraima, went missing. It was believed to have been engulfed by volcanic ash.
5 May 1902 around lunchtime the sea suddenly receded about 100 metres and then rushed back, flooding parts of the city, and a large cloud of smoke appeared westwards of the mountain. One wall of the crater collapsed and propelled a mass of boiling water and mud, into Blanche River, flooded the Guérin sugar works and buried about 150 victims under 60 - 90 metres (200 - 300 ft) of mud.
7 May 1902 Captain Marina Leboffe, of the barque Orsolina, left the harbor of St.Pierre with only half of the sugar cargo loaded, despite shippers' protests, clearance refused by the port authorities, and threats of being arrested.
News of the volcano Soufrière erupting on the nearby Saint Vincent island reassured the people that the internal pressures in the mountain were being relieved. People from the countryside attempted to find refuge in the city of St.Pierre, increasing its population by several thousands.
The next day, 12days after she went missing, on
8 May 1902
06:30 The Roraima passenger ship arrived in the port of Saint-Pierre.
07:00 congregations gathered in churches to pray and take communion. Others observed the fireworks of mount Pelee.
07:53 The upper mountainside of Pelee ripped open and a dense black cloud shot out horizontally. A second black cloud rolled upwards, forming a gigantic mushroom cloud and darkening the sky in a 80 km radius. The initial speed of both clouds was later calculated to be over 670 kilometres per hour. It hugged the ground and sped down towards the city of Saint-Pierre, appearing black and heavy, glowing hot from the inside. It consisted of superheated steam and volcanic gases and dust, with temperatures exceeding 1,075 °C (1,967 °F). In under a minute it reached and covered the entire city 6,5 km away, instantly igniting everything combustible.
A rush of wind followed. Then came a half-hour downpour of muddy rain and ashes.
"The town vanished before our eyes." eyewitnesses to the eruption, probably survivors on the boats, said.
The Roraima passenger steamship who reached harbour two hours ago, was set aflame by the hot volcanic ash. And sank. Twenty-eight of her crew, and all the passengers except two, were killed.
21 km2 (8 sq mi) was devastated by the eruption, with the city of Saint-Pierre taking the brunt, annihilation of life and property was total.
The man in the jail for wounding a friend with a cutlass, survived because of the thick rock walls and little ventilation. Yet also he was badly burnt.
Many of the few survivors who fled, were horribly burned, and most died later from their injuries.
Compère-Léandre, who lived at the edge of the city, said;
"I felt a terrible wind blowing, the earth began to tremble, and the sky suddenly became dark. I turned to go into the house, with great difficulty climbed the three or four steps that separated me from my room, and felt my arms and legs burning, also my body. ..."
Under a shroud of ashes, heaped in windrows several feet deep, caked by the rains, were 30,000 victims. Many had casual attitudes, their features calm and reposeful, death overtook them without warning or pain. Others were contorted in anguish. Few were identifiable. The city burned for days. Sanitation parties penetrated the calcined ruins bit by bit, to dispose of the dead by burning. The stench was sickening.
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If she could talk. What would be her story? Was it the city of Sodom and Gomorra? She might only cry. And ask Pelee 'Why?'
Yet, at her feet the bougenvilla blooms vividly.
Pelee erupted a few times more. Adding thousands to his victim count.
Pelee also grew an impressive volcanic spine of about 150m wide by 300m high, which collapsed after five months.
In 2019 Pelee's soft tremours are monitored.
I wonder if the tsunami of 5 May 1902 has travelled any distance with more casualties at other islands or countries?
Walking on these streets makes one thankful to be able to say good-bye to our loved-ones.