US Virgin Islands still devastated by one-two punch of Irma and Maria
by Sail-World Cruising.com on 30 Sep 2017
Debris and downed power lines on St. John. Hilary Swift / The New York Times
The three islands that make up the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, are generally regarded as beautiful and peaceful cruising and charter boat havens.
Two weeks later, they are still reeling from the damage done by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. People there are now realising how bad it is. “Maria broke our spirit,” one homeowner on St. John told The New York Times. He had lost part of the upstairs of his house in Hurricane Irma, and then the downstairs was under two and a half feet of water after Hurricane Maria.
The government says that hospitals on St. Thomas and St. Croix will have to be torn down and rebuilt. On St. Croix, one of the few working cell towers went down after someone stole the generator that powered it. On St. John, water and wind reduced beachfront hotels to rubble. On all three islands, students can’t go back to classes because their school buildings have been destroyed.
The boating industry, from marinas and resorts to charter fleets and privately-owned vessels, was hit particularly hard. “Masts from sunken sailboats jut out of the water,” The Times reports. “Charter boats, a big economic driver, lie on beaches, their hulls ripped open.”
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