St. Vincent Natural Disasters

Since St. Vincent was first inhabited hundreds of years ago, those who lived there were very familiar with the natural disasters that battered the island.

Those disasters included hurricanes, earthquakes, and since the volcano called La Soufriere is located on the island’s north end, its eruptions have affected the people and landscape many times.

A short list of natural disasters on St. Vincent:

1812 – La Soufriere volcano eruption

1830 – HURRICANE

1898 – HURRICANE
The September 11, 1898 hurricane on St. Vincent was widely reported in American newspapers. One account from the Los Angeles Times of September 24, 1898 states that at least 300 people died on St. Vincent, not counting those lives lost on damaged ships. Many ships from Barbados were reported to have been wrecked along the St. Vincent coast. The hurricane lasted four hours from ten o’clock in the morning until two o’clock in the afternoon. The devastation reports indicated that no building was left untouched, and most were destroyed, along with the island’s crops in cultivation. Two hundred houses were reported destroyed in Kingstown, along with all public buildings, the Anglican and Catholic churches, a new hospital, and Fort Charlotte. The Kingstown suburbs of Coxheath and Monte Bello were reported to have been obliterated. The list of towns and villages that were destroyed included: Rose Place, Grand Sable, Arnosvale, Mt. Pleasant, Argyll, Mallilabo, Barrouallio, Layou and Baccament. Georgetown was also greatly damaged. The heavy rain was reported to have swept much of the ruins into the sea, along with several dead and injured persons.

1902 – La Soufriere volcano eruption