St. John is still on the mend after the island’s close call with Hurricane Earl, but the power was on Wednesday in most places and the main roads were all passable.
The beaches, however, were closed because of the possibility of wastewater contamination.
St. John Administrator Leona Smith Wednesday put the island’s recovery at 90 percent.
She asked that people who are clearing downed trees and vegetation from their properties put the greenery at the side of the main roads for the Public Works Department to pick up.
Additionally, she requested that businesses report damages to her so that she can advise the Federal Emergency Management Agency. How much help St. John gets depends on how much damage is reported, she said.
“That’s why St. John doesn’t get anything – because people don’t report it,” she said.
She suggested that business owners take photos to document damage.
The situation at V.I. National Park is on the upswing.
“It’s getting better each day,” V.I. National Park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove said.
The park’s Visitors Center in Cruz Bay opened Wednesday, Hardgrove said.
The park is looking for five contractors to clear trails. Hardgrove said no one’s gone down the Reef Bay Trail yet to assess the situation, but the area was hard hit, so damage is expected.
Hardgrove said that at Caneel Bay Resort, which sits within park boundaries, a couple of roofs flew off the guest rooms and several large trees went down. No one could be reached at Caneel for further information.
At Maho Bay Camps, crews were cleaning up downed trees and vegetation, spokesman Melody Smith said.
While power was on for most St. John residents, Fish Bay, the East End and environs and the area beyond Calabash Boom were still without electricity Wednesday afternoon.
Maria Hull, who lives at Hansen Bay on the East End, said she’s running the generator but the gas supply is getting low. Since the island’s only gas station is a 45-minute ride away in Cruz Bay, getting more will be time consuming. Additionally, the chain saw used to cut down the fallen trees around the property needs the generator to operate.
Hull also suggested that the East End got hit a bit harder than the rest of the island.
“It just whaled for 24 hours,” she said.
At Weather Station Zephyr, located at Ajax Peak outside Coral Bay, the wind hit a high of 68 mph at around 6 p.m. as Earl’s winds blew by. The gust came from the west.
According to Smith, the shelter at Julius E. Sprauve School in Cruz Bay fed about 25 people. She did not know how many stayed the night. She said that shelter initially had generator problems, but the issue was quickly resolved. Smith said Emmaus Moravian Church shelter in Coral Bay housed about four or five people.
Smith added to the boats-on-the-beach tally with a report of two on the rocks near her office at the Battery in Cruz Bay and one in Cruz Bay near Gallows Point. Four were reported at Great Cruz Bay and two in Coral Bay.
“Those people need to take heed and secure their boats,” she said.
Reach Smith at 776-6484.
