A second “explosive event” has been reported by authorities in Saint Vincent, leaving residents of the area around La Soufrière volcano facing power cuts and water outages. Locals described loud rumbling, lightning and heavy ashfall as conditions deteriorated on the Caribbean island, after the volcano first erupted on Friday, forcing thousands to evacuate, though some remained in their homes. Professor Richard Robertson of the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre said lava had begun to flow down La Soufrière. He said: “It’s likely that at some point it would quiet down and hopefully we would have a break, so that we could recover a little bit more, but don’t be surprised if after the break it picks up like this again. The first bang is not necessarily the biggest bang this volcano will give.” Elford Lewis, a farmer who evacuated his home on Sunday morning, said the latest incident was worse than the previous major eruption of the 1,234-metre (4,049ft) volcano in 1979. Kalique Sutherland, another resident, said: “I’m just here wondering when it’s going to calm down.” About 16,000 people have had to flee their ash-covered communities with as many belongings as they could stuff into suitcases and backpacks. There have as yet been no reports of deaths or injuries. Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of the 32 islands that make up the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, has said people should remain calm and keep trying to protect themselves from Covid-19. He said officials were trying to figure out how to collect and dispose of the ash, which covered an airport runway near Kingstown and fell as far away as Barbados, about 120 miles (193km) to the east. About 3,200 people took refuge at 78 government-run shelters, while four empty cruise ships stood ready to ferry other evacuees to nearby islands, with more than 130 having already been taken to Saint Lucia. Those staying at the shelters were tested for the virus, and anyone who returned a positive result was sent to an isolation centre. Antigua and Guyana were among the countries offering help by either shipping emergency supplies or temporarily opening their borders to evacuees. The first explosion occurred on Friday morning, a day after the government ordered mandatory evacuations based on warnings from scientists who noted seismic activity before dawn on Thursday that meant magma was on the move close to the surface. An ash column burst more than 10,000 metres into the sky, forcing the cancellation of flights, while poor visibility limited evacuations in some areas. Officials warned that Barbados, Saint Lucia and Grenada could see light ashfall as the volcano continued to rumble. Most of the ash is expected to head north-east into the Atlantic Ocean.