Family live on island next to active volcano
This year marked 30 years since the British overseas territory of Montserrat was rocked by a deadly volcanic eruption. The Soufriere Hills was dormant for nearly a century before it blew its top on July 18, 1995, forcing residents to flee their homes and see their livelihoods destroyed.
Among them were Adena Johnson and her mother Olivette, who said they cheated death twice from the catastrophic blasts. Speaking exclusively, the pair told us that despite the volcano wiping out nearly two-thirds of Montserrat, they will not leave the land they call home.
Adena shares her life on Montserrat through her TikTok page @adenadmj, showcasing the vibrant beauty of the island, but admits the journey to this point was challenging.
Olivette and Adena Johnson both survived the devastating Montserrat volcano eruptions of the 1990s (Image: Adena Johnson)
She revealed: “We relocated to the island of St Thomas [in the US Virgin Islands]. We stayed for about two years and after that, I think my mum and I had enough and we really missed home. We moved back to Montserrat.”
The 35-year-old marketing professional and her mother first caught the world’s attention after creating a three-part TikTok video series explaining why they choose to live next to the Soufriere Hills, which has now gone 15 years without a devastating eruption but still remains active.
The picture was different in the mid-1990s, when the majority of the island’s 11,500 people were forced to leave their homes and witness their beloved cities – including the capital Plymouth – turn into ghosts towns.
The disaster claimed the lives of about 19 people and led to an exclusion zone covering two-thirds of the island, with only scientists and government-approved tour guides now allowed in.
Following the eruptions, Montserrat’s population shrunk to 1,200, but has since rebounded to 4,395.
The former capital, Plymouth, is now deserted and buried beneath layers of volcanic ash (Image: Christopher Pillitz/Getty Images)
Olivette, 68, recalled the terrifying moments when she and her family had to evacuate in 1997 following that summer’s second, and deadliest, eruption. But the volcano’s existence took her by surprise.
“When I heard the siren and when they said we had to evacuate, I never even knew that we had a volcano!” she confessed. “But after that, we were the first village to evacuate. We had to move a good distance to another village.
“I remember that when they said we were to evacuate, it was Adena and I. I have a sister and she has two children, and she had somebody else with her, and all of us got in one car. Seven of us in one car. It was filled, so we had to move out and go to another village.
“When we looked out the window, there were the scientists and them coming up, driving, coming up my way. They stopped by my gate and they said: ‘You all have to get out now because what’s going on is not so good’.”
Another chilling moment came when Olivette saw a friend being airlifted by helicopter. She recalled: “And then you see the helicopter, [I] saw where he was, pick him up and a cousin of mine and bring them over on top of the hill where we were watching everything going down to the sea. So I could say that I missed death twice.”
Olivette and Adena enjoying life at their home in the 1990s before the volcano wiped it out (Image: Adena Johnson)
Adena was only young during the eruptions, yet she still recalled how the island’s churches turned into temporary refuges for families, including her own.
“Many of us were forced to relocate,” the marketing professional explained. “We moved from [the village of] Long Ground and we ended up going to a shelter at Judy Piece Church.
“A lot of the churches across Montserrat became shelters because there was not enough space to hold everyone. So, churches, community centres and so forth were utilised to shelter us. We stayed in the church for a while.”
As Montserrat was being ravaged from within, Olivette was working from home as a seamstress creating uniforms for the Montserrat police force – a job she proudly continues today.
After being forced to flee, she became understandably worried about how to bring food to the table – then a lifeline was offered.
Adena, bottom, was only a child when the blasts took place (Image: Adena Johnson)
Adena disclosed: “At that point, we were living at the church and my mum was working at the airport.”
Her mother explained: “So because I used to do my sewing at home and I don’t have anywhere to go, he [her colleague] told me that I could bring my sewing machine at the airport in the duty-free shop and do my sewing there.”
Tragically for Olivette and everyone at WH Bramble Airport, the relief did not last as the volcano destroyed it. One of the nation’s primary escape routes was severed and remains within the exclusion zone to this day.
The family managed to relocate to the US Virgin Islands for a short while, but they became homesick and returned to their homeland. It is something they do not regret.
Three decades on, the Johnsons are relishing life in their home in Gerald’s, a village in northern Montserrat and 2.5 miles east of the new capital Brades. When they first settled here, they threw themselves into the rebuilding efforts, removing volcanic ash from their neighbourhood and adapting to their fresh start.
Now, they cherish living in a close-knit community and are proud to show a side to Montserrat that has emerged from the ashes.
“I like where we live,” Adena beamed. “It’s a very community-oriented village. The beauty about living in Montserrat, and the smallness of our size, it just makes us a little bit more tight knit.
“So, it’s a case where, you know, we have our neighbours – let’s say we’re travelling, and we just tell our neighbour, ‘Hey, just look out for my house while I’m gone’, he would.”
Adena shows off the best of Montserrat to the world on TikTok. She hopes her family’s tale of survival will strike a chord with younger generations who weren’t around to witness the terror that befell the island first-hand.
“There’s a generation in Montserrat likely hasn’t experienced a volcanic eruption, and there may not be many people willing to share their stories,” she said. “For me, I wanted to use this platform to raise awareness of the volcano stories because they shape our identity as Montserratians.”
