Ash-covered St. Vincent braces for more volcanic eruptions

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent: People who ignored an initial warning to evacuate the area closest to a volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent raced to get clear Saturday, a day after it erupted with an explosion that shook the ground, spewed ash skyward and blanketed the island in a layer of fine volcanic rock.

The eruption Friday of La Soufrière - its first large one since 1979 - transformed the island's lush towns and villages into gloomy, gray versions of themselves. A strong sulfur smell was unavoidable Saturday and ash covered everything, creeping into homes, cars and noses, and obscuring the sunshine that makes the island so popular with tourists. Chellise Rogers, who lives in the village of Biabou, which is in an area of St. Vincent that's considered safe, said she could hear continuous rumbling.