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| Irma eye at 1:50 pm Wednesday September 6. Lovango is at the top of the 76 degree circle. |
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| Screen shot of helicopter video posted September 10. |
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| Shot from FEMA shows dock damage- entire deck and two pilings gone, two twisted out of position- and Dan's damage. |
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| Photo from Dan: one of six broken hurricane ties on the porch... no rafter had both ties broken. Hard to imagine the force that was around the porch roof.
FOR THE RECORD BOOKS- MESSAGE FROM FIONA RUSSELL, LOVANGO NEIGHBOR (and permanent resident) from SEPT 30 (post Maria)
This is super-super-long, and it’s about St John in the Hurricane Irma/Maria aftermath. If you don’t have a personal connection with St John, or you’re just sick of devastation (hey, I am too!), you may want to skip it.
Our coconut telegraph is all over the place right now. Word of mouth ranges from “everything is fine, and the tourists will be back in a few months!” to “this was the apocalypse and nothing will be okay ever again”. The reality, naturally, is likely in between. Most aspects of St John life are very tenuous at the moment. Island life is always like that to a degree, but this is a new level. Not tenuous: our community’s strong spirit. St John is full of hardy, resourceful, caring folks, which is one of the main reasons it’s so special to all of us. Right now, part or all of our basic infrastructure could dissolve again simply because of a small link failing in a weakened chain. Anything from bad weather (whether here on island or even in FL or PR), a few broken generator parts, or even a simple human mistake or accident could create a big problem for all of St John and set us back all over again like Maria did after Irma. (As I was writing this, I got a VITEMA alert for a flash flood warning effective through October 2. Rain is on the way….) The news overall is good, and most days, most things are better than the day before. Often, we are pleasantly surprised to learn something is open or available that wasn’t the day before. Still, it is two steps forward, one to three steps back — every single day. The unpredictability itself is tough to deal with all the time. Some or all of the following could be different by the time you read it — even by the time I’ve finished writing it! If you cannot get information in person on St John, I highly recommend reading the daily updates posted online on the St John Community Foundation Page. FOOD Good: The Cruz Bay grocery stores have food for sale, including some refrigerated and frozen foods (not many veggies, but some). Several restaurants have FEMA contracts to serve free meals. MREs have been distributed daily through FEMA as well, in both Coral Bay and Cruz Bay. Indigo Grill in Coral Bay is feeding people for free with no FEMA contract, and lots of individuals who have the means to do so are sharing food with those in need. Unpredictable: Many people don’t have a good way to preserve any food they could buy — either they don’t have generators and are relying on coolers and ice (when available), or their generators aren’t working reliably, or there is no fuel to buy on that day, or the gas station’s generator/computer/pump isn’t working that day, or they are out of cash because there has been only a few hours of banking/ATM access on St John since September 1 or…. Also, the FEMA contracts end soon, and so will the free restaurant meals. MRE distribution also ends soon. Restaurant owners with generators aren’t sure when they will next receive food deliveries, so they don’t know whether they will be able to offer food for sale or not. FUEL Good: E&C has fuel for sale at the moment. The governor insists we have plenty of fuel available to be distributed. Unpredictable: E&C is currently limiting diesel to 50 gallons per person, and the flow of getting fuel distributed here remains unpredictable. Racetrack has not reopened since having an issue with their generator. Any small interruption in the distribution system (e.g., a barge or truck going down) could be a big problem. WATER Good: There is water supply in town, and the Westin and Caneel Bay are able to make water using their reverse osmosis plants. Unpredictable: A few days ago, a water main in town broke and we were dangerously close to losing our town water supply. If Westin or Caneel has trouble powering or running their RO plants, they won’t be able to make water. PHONE/INTERNET Good: Several local tech guys have banded together to get Internet and wireless communications working as well as possible, and the disaster response teams have enabled communications for critical needs (clinic, fire, etc.). Viya has been working to restore communications for its customers as well, allowing FirstBank to reopen on Tuesday (for a day). Unpredictable: Stuff breaks. Example: Somebody cut a wire they shouldn’t have on STT, and that screwed up wifi on STJ. My cell service worked great for the last two days, not working as well today. The Marketplace link stopped working, so FirstBank could not reopen on Wednesday or Thursday, and Marketplace businesses were back to cash only. ROADS Good: The roads are clearer and clearer with each passing day. It’s truly impressive how much locals, government workers, WAPA, and others have been able to clear away in such a relatively short time. Unpredictable: Landslides are still happening, and Centerline Road is often closed while crews clear it. If it becomes impassible or even collapses, the Bordeaux Mountain Road will become the main way to get in and out of Coral Bay, and emergency vehicles can’t navigate this road all the way through on a good day, let alone in its current condition. (Side note, next time I’m out on Bordeaux, I want to get a photo of the lounge chair hanging 30 feet up from a broken tree limb.) INFORMATION Good: More people are getting online, so it is easier to find out what is going on. The daily town meetings in Cruz Bay and Coral Bay, including the 7:30am briefing at NPS, provide people with the latest information. Signs at Connections and at the NPS visitor center also have information for those who can’t attend the meetings. Unpredictable: Sometimes inaccurate or outdated information makes the rounds, especially online. If you want to know what’s going on that day, you have to attend the meetings in person or try to work off of online information, which is usually based on yesterday and not always up to date. Routinely we go to town to discover that what we set out to buy/do that day is not available/possible for various reasons. The government and news media are not always the most accurate sources of information — nothing new, but more important lately when information is scarce. SECURITY Good: Most people feel safe overall. Although some thefts have occurred, there has not been widespread looting or significantly more crime than usual. A couple of dozen New York State law enforcement professionals are here to boost the law enforcement presence. Unpredictable: Fear makes people see life differently, and the coconut telegraph has carried a lot of scary information that could not be verified. Most seems to have been false but likely is rooted in a real incident that happened somewhere. Also, there’s naturally a bit of culture clash between New York State’s approach to law enforcement and St John's approach. And at some point, the troopers will leave island. CURFEW Good: Curfew has been rolled back to 6am (from 10am or noon, at one point). On most days, the morning hours for curfew on STJ have not been strictly enforced except to discourage people who are just hanging about in town. Most people who are out and about in the mornings are working to clean up and rebuild, and the local police already know who to keep an eye on. Unpredictable: It’s hard to get information about curfew hours when they do change. You can’t find out except by breaking curfew. Also, law enforcement has been fairly strict about sending people home after evening curfew begins at 6pm. HEALTHCARE Good: We have doctors, nurses, and other health professionals from relief organizations here to supplement our amazing (and exhausted) local healthcare professionals.They are working in town at the deCastro clinic and in Coral Bay at the fire station, and patients are being seen at the private practice on 3rd floor Marketplace as well. Most people with serious or chronic medical conditions have already evacuated. Dengue has not been a problem yet. Unpredictable: The MKS clinic is now closed due to roof leaks. That was our biggest healthcare center on St John. The X-ray machine in town stopped working, so people who need x-rays are going to the vet. As ever, there is no way to care for any serious illness or injury here, but now the ability to treat such on St Thomas or Puerto Rico is either severely reduced or not even an option. And post-storm, it’s much easier to get injured around here. BANKING Good: FirstBank was open for a few hours on Tuesday, and their ATMs worked that day as well. Several banks on STT have reopened. People have been able to get cash again. Unpredictable: The link that allowed FirstBank to open went down, and they closed again. No other ATMs are working on STJ, and Merchants remains closed on STJ. Cash remains an important and challenging-to-acquire commodity for most people. POWER Good: WAPA workers are out and about, and a lot of progress has been made since the storms. They hope to have power on at least for a few areas in Cruz Bay soon. New poles are beginning to go up for power lines in town. Unpredictable: Soon is not yet. People are depending on generator power, which is dependent on fuel supply — except for the lucky few with intact off-grid solar systems. Good: Postal employees have been handing out pre-Irma mail from trucks and tents on the street. Unpredictable: I have heard of only a little bit of post-Irma mail being delivered, and nothing post-Maria yet. That means anything mailed today might not arrive for weeks, so this is why it is better to donate money than stuff. Some mail was damaged (soaked and/or covered in black mold) and may never be delivered. Puerto Rico is our main USPS distribution center, and we do not know how long it might be before they can get back to business. SCHOOL Good: The Gifft Hill School reopened this week, and fees are waived for any islander who wants to send their child to school. Many community leaders have been working hard behind the scenes to make this happen, on every level from funding to building repairs to helping parents figure out transportation. Also, the St John Christian Academy is reopening, and many hands (and dollars) are at work to reopen the public elementary school (JESS) in early October. Unpredictable: Many teachers have left island, temporarily or permanently. Everyone is making do with the resources they have, as usual. JOBS Good: There will be plenty of work in construction and other aspects of the recovery effort for some time to come. Private funding has created some three-month paid positions for census-takers, and other locals have stayed employed through FEMA contracts and jobs. And people are finding creative ways to reopen their businesses — for instance, Love City Barbershop staff were cutting hair at Bucky Paris’s trucking company, with a line of customers waiting! Unpredictable: The bulk of our economy depends on tourism, and most jobs here were based around supporting visitors. People who love St John will still visit (when possible), but many cannot or will not be back anytime soon. Restaurant workers, resort workers, charter boat crew, and others counting on a good season this year are now facing unemployment. TRANSPORT Good: Ferries and barges are running right now, several times a day. The airport is open. Unpredictable: That can all change at any time if a boat goes down, fuel becomes unavailable, we get another storm, etc. Also, the schedules can change from day to day, and you can’t find out the new schedule without showing up somewhere in person. TRASH Good: Contractors have been emptying the dumpsters as often as possible, even though people are throwing out many times more waste than usual. Unpredictable: Waste hauling too depends on fuel, barges running, etc. Dumpsters are supposed to be used only for household trash; landscaping and home debris have to go straight to the dump. Never mind that our landfills were already full before Irma hit…. PEOPLE Good: Way beyond good; this part is the best. Love City is full of many truly inspiring people who are hard at work to help each other out, and we have amazing support from so many of our part-time residents and visitors. Small things, like the basketball court being cleared again, make a big difference to people’s spirits. The tremendous progress in recovery to date would be impossible without neighbors and families and even strangers looking after each other in whatever ways we can offer, tangible and intangible. Unpredictable: Burnout is very real. Living on STJ right now is very difficult even if you haven’t suffered any trauma from the storms, which many have. We all know people who have died and people whose homes have been reduced to rubble. Being unable to shower regularly, use an actual toilet, or eat healthy foods takes its toll on most people after awhile. Those who made it through in good shape are also burning out, from taking care of others, from constantly trying to get/communicate the latest information, and even just from trying to get by in this strange new world that was totally different 24 days ago. Everybody’s carrying a heavy load, and some days it is much harder than other days. -- Yikes, that is a whole lot of words, and no doubt I still haven’t covered nearly everything. I think these are most of the topics on which I keep getting questions. Many residents who have been off island are now beginning to return, and lots of regular visitors want to come down and help. When there is more stability for the people who are already here, we would love for folks with building or medical skills to come and help in person. Right now, though, we are focused on surviving. It’s going well for the most part, but we cannot address any new problems or needs beyond what we already have. If you have been away and must come back, please be 100% healthy and self-sufficient when you arrive, and do all you can to remain that way. Also, have a solid plan if we get another storm — where will you shelter if you cannot evacuate, and do you have enough supplies to take care of yourself after another storm when all bets are off? I am not trying to be unkind or discouraging toward anyone. Rather, I am asking those who wish to help to please consider how you can best contribute to solutions for St John without adding to our problems. Thank you for your love for this beautiful island (as seen from Lovango Cay in the photo!). Image may contain: ocean, sky, cloud, mountain, plant, outdoor, nature and water |
