This is the continuing story of the aftermath of hurricane Irma on St John told to me by my daughters, Michelle and Cortney who survived the storm:
Since there was a 6pm curfew, no electricity and sunset is at 6:30, all anyone could do was go ‘home’ to repair where they were living or find alternative housing.
Since they had only stockpiled enough food and water for a week thinking that was all they were going to need, they started to worry about provisions. Luckily, the grocery store generators were working and people were able to buy food but the perishables ran out quickly. Three generous restaurants in Cruz Bay were giving out free food, cooking up whatever they had in storage🥰
Even, miraculously, the huge ice machine in Cruz Bay survived the hurricane so with their generator working round the clock people were able to get ice to keep whatever perishables they had put in insulated containers.
Locals were using chainsaws to clear roads and set up distribution centers and tapped contacts on the mainland to fly in medical supplies and generators. They had heard that the hospital on St. Thomas was severely damaged and the St John clinic was barely intact.
St. Thomas Hospital:
Another real problem for many was the absence of cash on hand. Since the Internet was not working, stores and gas stations required cash . The ATMs were not working and the banks were not open. (Banks were closed for a month!) Luckily, Michelle had stockpiled a lot of cash since her sandal vending business was cash only🙌🏽 When you consider generators running for 6 to 8 hours a day can be as much as $800 a month in fuel!
A huge worry was trying to reach people living on the other end of the island in Coral Bay. Without cell service , a few had walked hours from that end of the island (since the roads were car impassable) and posted the names of people who they knew were safe so loved ones on the mainland could breathe a sigh of relief!
Next, it was important to those who had moored their boats in Hurricane Hole and Mary’s Creek to find out if their boats had survived. For many, their boats were their homes (which they had evacuated from for the hurricane) and others their livelihood ,as they would use their boats for day and sunset sails for tourists.
It was a devastating sight! In the end, 450 boats were disabled or destroyed. Robbie’s trimaran had an entire outrigger hull and the boat’s mast ripped off.
Fortunately, no one on St. John had perished in the hurricane. But sadly there was one casualty from St. John, a boat captain, Richard Benson. He had tried to outrun the hurricane in his ship, Athena, but did not make it.😢
Every day was a challenge as everyone struggled to cope with the extremely hot weather, no air conditioning, lack of provisions, trying to place tarps on holes on roofs so that the rain would not come in, flat tires because of debris on the roads and trying to physically and emotionally help each other.
But as the days were starting to look more hopeful, little did they know another hurricane was brewing in the Atlantic soon to hit them only 12 days after Irma…….Maria was headed their way🌀
Traveling Rose in St. John 