Although Hurricane Debby made a direct hit on St. John, its brief visit left little impact except for welcome showers Tuesday night.
Sustained winds of 30 to 35 mph began buffeting the eastern end of the island around 11 a.m. as the storm made its north-northwesterly approach. As skies darkened, waves of less than 3 feet rolled through some of the calmer bays.
Most of the winds died down around 2 p.m. as Debby veered off to the north of St. Thomas. Showers associated with the Category 1 hurricane made a similarly brief appearance during the middle of the day, then returned mid-evening punctuated by lightning and brief wind gusts.
According to Alvis Christian, deputy director for St. John of the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency, the passing storm left few traces. "All in all, I think we did fairly well," he said Tuesday afternoon. "We still have an eye on the rain, but there's no indication of the system breaking up."
Christian and other emergency managers took a round-island road tour in mid-afternoon and afterward declared all major roadways clear. There were no emergencies reported as a result of bad weather, they said.
Water and Power Authority crews battled a handful of scattered power outages, the longest of which lasted 35 minutes, Christian said. Few interruptions in telephone service were reported.
Boats moored uneventfully in the island's two safe harbors. Many began to leave Tuesday afternoon as the winds subsided, Christian said, "even though we had 30 to 35 boats that stayed."
The American Red Cross emergency shelter at Bethany Moravian Church remained open with a small number of senior citizens and younger people in need of shelter through late afternoon. At the other St. John shelter, at Emmaus Moravian Church in Coral Bay, no one ever showed up seeking refuge from the storm.
By Wednesday, life on St. John was expected to return to routine. Operators of the commuter ferries and barges connecting the island with St. Thomas got the word from the Port Authority that public seaports could reopen at 5 a.m. Whether ferry service will resume then will depend on sea conditions Wednesday morning.
