OLVESTON, Montserrat (AP) — Montserrat’s volcano spewed thick clouds of ash into the air yesterday, delaying flights across the Caribbean and plunging surrounding islands into a gritty haze.

Tree branches were snapped off from the weight of the ash and significant damage was done to surrounding vegetation on the British territory, said Richard Herd, director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. Elsewhere, flights were cancelled.

“There’s no one in the area right now but as a precaution we’re asking people in surrounding areas to stay indoors. There’s still a chance of more explosions and rock fall,” said Herd on Montserrat.

Authorities initially said a St Croix man died when his car swerved off the road because of poor visibility due to the ash. Police later said the crash had nothing to do with the volcanic ash.

Debris blanketed much of the Dutch Caribbean territory of St Maarten, putting a grimy coat of ash on houses, cars and trees. Residents were told to stay indoors or to wear surgical masks.

All American Eagle flights after 5:00 pm (2100 GMT) from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to other destinations in the Caribbean were cancelled. Earlier, an additional 50 American Eagle flights and two American Airlines flights to St Thomas, St Maarten, Anguilla, Guadeloupe, Dominica, and St Kitts had been cancelled. Today’s flights remain unchanged.

“There is a lot of ash and to avoid any problems we decided to cancel the flights,” said Minnette Velez, an American spokeswoman in the US territory’s capital, San Juan. Today’s flights had not yet been delayed.

Continental, Winair, LIAT, Caribbean Sun and Caribbean Star also suspended operations because of the ash.

Part of the Montserrat volcano’s dome that faces the Tar River Valley collapsed late Saturday, sending a torrent of mud and ash down the valley and pelting distant houses and buildings with a hail of rocks. In October, 300 residents who live near the valley were evacuated after scientists warned the volcano’s dome had shifted its growth toward the north.

The Soufriere Hills volcano sprang to life in 1995, chasing away more than half the British Caribbean island’s population. An eruption in 1997 buried much of the south, including the capital, Plymouth, and killed 19 people.

Today, the peak still casts a reddish-orange glow at night. Scientists monitor it and report any changes to the island’s 4,500 residents, who live in northern areas declared safe.

Once a bustling island where sheep and cattle roamed the hills and chartered yachts pulled in weekly on tourist runs, Montserrat’s economy has been hard hit by losses in tourism and farmland in the south, which is now uninhabitable under mountains of volcanic, gray ash.

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