It has been just over two weeks since the all clear was given for some persons in the orange zone to return home. On May 17th Director of NEMO Michelle Forbes recommended to the Prime Minister that persons in the red zone from Georgetown to the Rabbacca river could also begin to return to their homes.
SVGTV news team spoke with several evacuees who gave varying reasons for why they say they are unable to return to their homes these include heavy ash, damage to their property and bleek surroundings.
One woman from the Fitz Hughs area says while she is independent and prefers to be on her own, the scenes she saw when she went back to her vIllage were jarring.
Another male from the Dickson Georgetown area says the eruption of La Soufriere has left him traumatised and with the alert still at orange he is uneasy to return home.
Another male from the leeward end of the island also shared that the dust and bleek surroundings are a deterrent to returning home, despite there is water and electricity in his house.
He added that as a farmer it is difficult to return to his livelihood as animals are ravaging what crops he has, and ash makes it difficult to plough the soil.
Another woman from Georgetown shared that for her she also fears having to relocate if Soufriere erupts agains. In addition to this, with the coming hurricane season, and damage to her home, it is just not feasible for her to go back.
There has been no official mandate given for residents in the red zone below the Rabbacca river to return home as yet. Cleaning is also currently ongoing in Fitz Hughs and those individuals have not been given the all clear to return as well. However, when and if the mandate does come, residents are clearly showing no intentions to return to their communities in a hurry.
