Montserrat: Portrait of an Island before the Volcano

I visited the island of Montserrat, a tiny British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean in 1988 and again in 1989, about six months after the island was badly hit by hurricane Gilbert. However in July 1995, the Soufrière Hills volcano erupted and destroyed most of the main habitable areas, including the principle town, the airport and docking facilities. Two thirds of the population was forced to leave, mainly to the UK. Most of these photographs were taken in parts of the island ravaged by the volcano. This area was designated an exclusion zone and it covers more than half of the island. So there is poignancy to these photographs that capture a world now lost.