HURRICANE RESTORATION UPDATE
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
WAPA’s restoration efforts continued in both districts on Tuesday, Nov. 28. Additional customers were restored in some areas while crews performed reconstruction work such as planting poles and stringing lines.
On St. Thomas, areas from the bottom of Solberg Hill to near Pilgrim’s Terrace were restored, while other crews redeveloped primary circuits on Mafolie Hill. The Joseph Sibilly School campus was also restored as well as customers in portions of Mahogany Estate, Frenchtown, De Beltjen Road, Hull Bay and Old Tutu. By later this week, crews will be on Valdemar Hill Sr. “Skyline” Drive developing primary circuits. Crews are also working to restore service to numerous businesses on the corridor from Sub Base to the Cancryn Junior High School campus. Those businesses will be restored by early next week.
On St. John, crews continued restoration of service to customers on Feeders 7E and 9E as well as on the primary circuit that connects Cruz Bay and Coral Bay.
o On St. Croix, approximately 80 percent of customers in Sion Farm have been restored, and on Tuesday, crews restored service to some customers in Herman Hill, William’s Delight, La Grande Princesse, Mary’s Fancy, Barren Spot as well as the Grenada del Mar and La Grande Princesse Condos. Crews also restored service to the Contentment Potable Water Pump Station, the Waste Management Authority’s Lagoon Street Pump Station, a FirstBank branch, Mencho’s Restaurant and Sun Self Storage.
- WAPA reminds customers that homes with temporary roofs (blue roofs) will be restored with electrical service once a licensed electrician has certified, in writing, that the structure is safe to energize.
If work needs to be done to repair a damaged meter base and/or weather head, customers must call the Emergency Call Center at 774-1424 on St. Thomas-St. John or 773-0150 on St. Croix. The call centers operate seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- If anyone’s electric meter was removed by WAPA personnel to facilitate repairs to either a meter base and/or weather head, once repairs are completed and a licensed electrician certifies the work in writing, customers are required to notify the Customer Service Office. All fees usually associated with meter removal and reconnection have been waived during this restoration period. Customer service offices operate Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sunny Isle on St. Croix and Port of Sale Mall on St. Thomas.
- Reconstruction, restoration and hurricane debris removal crews are deployed across the islands. Motorists are asked to exercise caution when driving through the work areas and to heed the directions of flaggers and VIPD officers who are assisting with traffic control.
- WAPA urges residents to shut off standby generators when line crews are in their neighborhoods restoring electrical service. A standby generator has the potential to back feed electricity to the grid, which poses a severe safety risk to restoration crews.
A restoration schedule was published for the next two weeks detailing areas where crews will be restoring service. WAPA remains committed to its previously stated goal of restoring 90 percent of all areas in the territory by December 25. The restoration schedule is available on WAPA’s website: www.viwapa.vi and on Facebook: Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority.
POTABLE WATER SYSTEM
There are six days of emergency water storage on St. John, eight days on St. Thomas, and five days on St. Croix. All but one of the territory’s potable water pumps stations are now on the electric grid.
WAPA urges clean-up contractors and homeowners in both districts to exercise caution when piling debris on and around potable water meters. There are a growing number of instances where water meters are being damaged by clean-up equipment grading debris and causing damage to the roadside water meters. The continued damage by heavy equipment poses difficulty in maintaining or restoring potable water service to customers.
OTHER INFORMATION
Emergency Call Centers operate 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week.
St. Thomas-St. John district, 774-1424; St. Croix district, 773-0150
WAPA telephone contact: St. Thomas-St. John District, 774-3552; St. Croix district, 773-2250
Customer Service Offices operate Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sunny Isle on St. Croix and at Port of Sale Mall on St. Thomas
WAPA website: www.viwapavi / Facebook: Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority
