This, believe it or not, is a capital

city. At its peak, it was a cultural,

economic, and political hub, and a home

to over 4,000 people. Although not the

largest city in the world, it was the

beating heart of a country nonetheless.

It is the capital city of Plymouth, on

the small Caribbean island of

Montserrat.

It has been destroyed and abandoned. Was

it wiped off the map by a war or an

industrial disaster? Well, no.

It was by something much arguably more

terrifying.

A natural disaster.

The perpetrator of the tragedy was the

mountain that loomed over the once

bustling city. The disaster caused a

massive population shift in the country,

leaving way under half still calling the

island home.

But how did it happen?

Well, watch the video to find out.

Today, we're looking at the volcanic

eruptions of Montserrat and the destiny

of its capital city. My name is John,

and welcome to Plainly Difficult. This

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An island in the Caribbean.

So, Montserrat has a fascinating

history, which resulted in a unique

cultural melting pot. Now, it's not

really relevant for the subject of this

video, but I found it fascinating in

that its culture is a blend of Irish and

African traditions. This came about with

the mixing of Irish indentured servants

and enslaved Africans. So much so was

the mixing of cultures that the island

still today celebrates St. Patrick's Day

as a public holiday and a 10-day

festival, which blends African and Irish

traditions, as well as commemorating a

slave uprising in 1768.

Even a national dish of goat water is

thought to have its origins from the

humble Irish stew, something that always

brings me back memories of my nan.

The Irish language was also spoken for a

long part of the island's history, with

both black and white people speaking it.

The island in a post-colonial

after World War II,

never really gained its independence,

instead being a British Overseas

Territory. The island's traditional

capital city is called Plymouth, founded

in 1632, originally largely by Irish

settlers and indentured servants. It

later developed into a hub for sugar,

cotton, and lime plantations.

It was also the main port of entry and

exit of goods and the island's enslaved

population. As the centuries went on,

and slavery was abolished in the 1830s,

the population would grow.

Interestingly, post-abolition, Quaker

Joseph Sturge bought up some of the

out-of-business plantations and ran them

using paid labor, proving it was

financially possible to make a profit

without the use of slaves. So, that's a

nice little Quaker fact for the day.

Anyways, the island had a peak

population of around 13,000 people in

the 1960s, but as the 20th century went

on, it would gradually flow down to

around 11,000, with the capital city,

Plymouth, being the most populous

settlement.

Overlooking the capital city is the

Soufrière Hills, just 4 km away.

For the most of the island's history, it

was a dormant volcano, but we'll come

back to this very soon.

Although small, during the 1970s and

1980s, the country's economy expanded

steadily. In 1989, its GDP per capita

was around 4,000 US dollars. This put it

above South Africa but below South Korea

in the world rankings.

The bustling Georgian city of Plymouth

by the 1990s had a modest population of

around 4,000 people and was on the

bounce back after a terrible hurricane

named Hugo and a bit of a banking

scandal which had hit the country

financially. But the city would soon

become a unique thing, the only modern

de jure capital city in the world that

is completely abandoned.

The disaster.

So, you know, the dormant Soufrière

Hills volcano just 4 km away from

Plymouth,

well, it in the early 1990s

started to show some concerning signs.

Between 1989 and July 1995,

increased seismic activity was felt on

the island. There had been periods of

activity before in the island's past. As

such, residents carried on as normal and

no real anticipation of an eruption was

made by any of the public bodies

involved in the running of the island.

Concerns were raised about the seismic

activity towards the end of 1994 as the

rumblings intensity and frequency

increased.

Going into the start of 1995, potato

crops around the hills began to fail and

this was hinting that disaster was very

close.

On the 18th of July in the early

afternoon, deafening roaring sounds

emitted from the top of the hill

followed by the telltale sulfurous smell

and ash fallout of an eruption. Panic

swept across the island's near 11,000

people population. Plans into action for

evacuation of the population from the

southern part of the island to the north

and off of the island.

On the 21st of August, major phreatic

explosions were experienced. This

prompted an evacuation of some 6,000

people from the south over a period of 2

weeks

going on to November

onset of lava dome growth was observed

followed by minor pyroclastic flows in

the December.

Another evacuation would happen around

this time.

As 1996 drew in, Operation Exodus was

initiated after the government of

Montserrat accepted budgetary aid

conditions.

March saw the onset of major pyroclastic

flows. The governor declared a state of

public emergency and Plymouth and the

southern areas were fully finally

evacuated for good. Interestingly, over

the previous year, residents were

allowed to return to the capital after

each evacuation.

The pyroclastic flows and mud flows was

so far were mainly in unpopulated areas.

Temporary leaves remain was granted for

islanders to stay in the UK for a

maximum of 2 years.

Pyroclastic flows increased in intensity

and by May

reached the sea.

And by September, inhabited areas became

increasingly under threat with the

village of Long Ground being hit.

By now, the island's population has

shrunk to around 7,500 people. In

February 1997, volcanic material

overtopped a section of the hill called

Galway's Wall for the first time.

The on-island population again had

shrunk down further to around 6,000

people. The dome growth switched to the

north side of the hills

ending increasing dome collapses and

pyroclastic flows from around the north

of the hills.

The situation continues to worsen. The

capital city was fully shut off to the

public and no access was legally allowed

during daytime from the 16th of June

1997.

On the 25th of June 1997, a massive

eruption produced pyroclastic surges

that nearly hit as far as the country's

main airport.

The tragic day resulted in the deaths of

19 people and 18 more injured.

Increasing numbers of flows carried on

getting closer and closer to the city of

Plymouth. Eventually between the 4th and

8th of August 1997, another series of

large eruptions destroyed and buried

around 80% of the town, leaving it in

some places

under up to 1.4 m or 4.6 ft of hot ash.

This burned buildings to beyond

economical and habitable repair.

Throughout the eruptions, the material

flung around the island was very dense,

requiring heavy machinery to clear up.

Machinery that was not on the island in

enough numbers to allow for any real

recovery of the capital city.

By the end of 1997

and tons more volcanic activity, the

island's human population had dwindled

down to just 3,000 people.

The island had experienced a

catastrophic event. They had lost almost

the entire half of the landmass and lost

2/3 of its population.

Those who escaped and temporarily stayed

in UK were allowed to settle

indefinitely. This was roughly 4,000

people.

By 1998, much of the activity has

subsided and resettlement of some of the

parts of the island was allowed, but not

for capital city Plymouth. It remained

abandoned, a time capsule within its

exclusion zone on the island, which

we'll come back to in a little bit.

The volcano would continue to erupt all

the way to 1999 and would re-erupt

during the 2000s with its most recent

event being in 2013.

The eruption caught the whole island off

guard. I mean, it's kind of

understandable as the previous known

eruption was in 1550.

Thankfully, the death toll was

relatively low when compared to other

eruptions, but it was still tragic

nonetheless.

The aftermath.

So, with no functional home for the

island's government, a new one had to be

built. This came in the form of a

temporary capital in the town of Brades

in 1998, which has a population of

around 1,000 people.

The country's planning on having a new

capital proper called Little Bay, which

is set to be a new harbor and

administration center for the much

reduced total population of around 5,000

inhabitants.

Until its completion, interestingly,

Plymouth is still the capital city,

making it the only capital city in the

world with no inhabitants. And it is

essentially an abandoned ghost town.

Now, the whole southerly island has

limited access, known as the exclusion

zone, including the city of Plymouth.

Varying parts have more or less

accessibility, but interestingly, much

of the exclusion zone has been reclaimed

by nature, which offers a unique glimpse

into what happens after humans have left

an area. So, that's my video on the

Montserrat volcano disaster. It's going

to be a four on my scale. This is what

I've got from my root cause analysis

card. Do you agree? Let me know in the

comments below. This is a Plain English

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videos produced by me, John, in the

currently

very moderate corner of southern

England, UK. And also to say thank you

very much for watching. And Mr. Music,

place that, please.