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rose at six o'clock
in
the morning,
flung open his bedroom shutters,
and was amazed at the sight before
him. Everywhere he could see, the
ground and trees were covered by
flaky, white volcaoic ash.
The next day, the town was cov–
ered with more flaky ash. Mount
Pelée issued guttural rumblings
from deep within. Lava flows
poured down the sides of the moun–
tain. One flow blocked a stream on
the slopes of the mountain, causing
a flood which took several lives.
Earth tremors jolted the ground,
throwing people to thei r knees.
At this point, public disquiet in–
creased. The inhabitants of St.
Pierre and the local villages knew
that such earthquakes often pre-
PLAIN TRUTH May 1973
ceded major volcanic eruptions. But
a Martinique political election was
corning up soon - and nobody in
government wanted a panic among
the populace. Panic could cause loss
of votes. Public clamor was quelled
by official reassurances and procla–
mations of safety. Government offi–
cials had decided it was unwise to
evacuate every citizen from St.
Pierre. It would create a social up–
heaval and seriously damage the
economy. So the people were en–
couraged to stay.
Earth tremors continued; more
lava fiowed down the mountain.
Prayers for safety increased.
"Why," one wonders today, look–
ing back on the devastation that oc–
curred in St. Pierre, "why didn' t
UNLIKE 30,000 INHABITANTS of St.
Pierre, Martinique, who perished in
the volcanic eruption of Pelée in 1902,
t he 5,000 dwellers nea r the foot of
lceland's Helgafell volcano (above)
successfully evacuated . The recent
eruption of lava from Helgafell threat–
ened the main harbor of Vestmannaey–
jar on Heymaey lsland.
James Andonson - Gommo
people take warning? Why didn't
they fiee for safety?"
A full answer has never been ade–
quately given because it involves a
side of human nature of which few
people are aware.
Signs and Portents
Sunday, May 4, arrived. The
whole sky glowed with fue. Blinding
9