It was another close call for the Virgin Islands Tuesday as Hurricane Debby passed slightly to the north of St. Thomas without causing major damage to any of the islands.
Reminiscent of Hurricane Luis five years ago, Debby and its minimum hurricane winds veered enough to the north in the morning to move at about 20 mph in a westerly direction just north of St. Thomas at midday, leaving intermittent showers but only minor damage in its wake.
As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, emergency conditions in the Virgin Islands relating to Debby officially ended with the lifting by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull of the territorywide curfew he had imposed at midnight the night before.
"Initially, it appears that the United States Virgin Islands has suffered relatively little damage as a result of Hurricane Debby," the governor said in a prepared statement that he read first at 5:30 p.m. on WVWI Radio then repeated in call-ins to WSTA, WSTX and WRRA.
In the five-minute statement, Turnbull also announced that "All government employees are expected to report to work tomorrow, Wednesday."
Between 4 and 5 p.m., the governor had called in to the radio news departments with a pre-announcement that he would make the announcement concerning the curfew after reviewing the 5 p.m. storm coordinates and weather reports and discussing the Debby's impact on the territory with VITEMA, V.I. National Guard and police officials at VITEMA headquarters on St. Thomas.
Meantime, at 4:40 p.m., Turnbull gave a status report to the world via a telephone call carried on cable television's Weather Channel. According to initial assessments flowing into his office, he said, it appeared that damage to the Virgin Islands by Hurricane Debby was "relatively small."
A hurricane tail trailing rain
At 5 p.m., the National Hurricane Center reported Debby's coordinates at 19.1 degrees north latitude and 66.1 degrees west longitude, 45 miles north of San Juan. The hurricane watch in effect for the territory from around 2 a.m. Tuesday had been downgraded to a tropical storm warning for the Virgin Islands as well as Puerto Rico.
However, forecasters emphasized that, for St. Thomas and St. John, at least, there was considerably more rain and a bit more wind to come, with the projection of a total of 4 to 6 inches of rainfall from the storm still in effect. "There's a long tail to Debby, so expect intermittent rain tonight," WSTA meteorologist John Tuohy said around 5 p.m.
For the most part, however, as the sun set on Debby's day in the Virgin Islands, the emphasis was on a return to business as usual Wednesday.
On St. John, VITEMA deputy director Alvis Christian, island administrator Julien Harley and Public Works deputy commissioner Ira Wade conducted an island drive-around Tuesday afternoon and reported no major damage.
On St. Croix, the Port Authority reopened the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport at 5 p.m., an hour in advance of the curfew lifting. On St. Thomas, the Cyril E. King Airport remained closed, Port Authority information officer Shirley Smith said, because of standing water and gusting winds.
Smith referred those scheduled to fly into or out of the territory on Wednesday to verify their flights with the ticketing airlines.
Despite the continuing rain and rough seas, the Port Authority announced the reopening of the seaports effective at 5 a.m. Wednesday. Whether ferry and barge service between St. Thomas and St. John resumes then will depend on sea conditions.
No major WAPA problems
Tuesday evening, the Water and Power Authority had "full crews out" on all islands dealing with isolated problems, but nothing serious, spokeswoman Patricia Blake Simmonds said. "No units were down" during the hurricane, she said, and "the plants stayed intact."
During the day on St. Croix, Simmonds said, "some feeders went down every once and a while, but nothing major." Water Island temporarily "was on partial power when Feeder 7 went down." On St. John, "some feeders had problems with reclosures." On St. Thomas, "there were some transformer problems." But overall, she said, "There wasn't anything unusual."
The WAPA crews were out Tuesday afternoon and into the night working on individual reports of trouble. "All feeders are up," she said. "There isn't any major problem. You have a problem on your house but your neightbor doesn't – a wire that's slack, that kind of thing."
All WAPA personnel were to report for work as usual Wednesday. Tutu Park Mall on St. Thomas planned to reopen Wednesday at 10 a.m. Among the companies also calling employees back to work was Hovensa, which had shut down some of its processing plants Monday and closed its port Monday night. Company Vice President for Human Resources Alex Moorhead said the giant St. Croix refinery expected to resume normal operations, and all workers were to report for regularly scheduled shifts beginning Wednesday morning.
Two private schools, Sts. Peter and Paul and New Testament Academy, announced that classes would meet as scheduled Wednesday. The University of the Virgin Islands reported no damage, and both campuses were to reopen Wednesday with a continuation of late registration and class adds and drops for the fall semester.
A Senate committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday was postponed, however. Sen. Gregory Bennerson, chair of the Government Operations Committee, said the meeting set for 10 a.m. on St. Thomas would be rescheduled. The meeting agenda included consideration of the proposed Public Employees Retirement Incentive Act and a proposal to authorize a constitutional convention in December.
Although there were no immediate reports of major damage, East End St. Thomas resident Norita Lee reported that two sailboats were beached at Vessup Bay during the storm. No boat damage was reported on St. John, St. Croix or Water Island.
A 'non-event' for tourism
In a release to national media and the travel trade, the goverment's mainland public relations agency, Martin Public Relations, said the territory had "escaped the brunt of Hurricane Debby." It stated, "St. Croix was least affected by the hurricane, enjoying mostly calm, sunny and dry weather throughout the day, while St. Thomas and St. John experienced intermittent bands of rain and occasional high winds. There have been no reports of damage or injuries anywhere in the territory."
The release noted the lifting of the curfew, the reopening the St. Croix airport and the expected Wednesday reopening of the St. Thomas airport. It said cruise ships that regularly call at St. Thomas and St. Croix "are expected to resume regular scheduling on Sunday."
Preliminary reports indicated "no property damage" at resorts, Tourism Commissioner Rafael Jackson was quoted as saying, and an estimated 3,300 guests remained in the territory as the hurricane passed through. Elizabeth Armstrong, general manager of the Buccaneer Hotel, termed Debby "a non-event for St. Croix" and said for the resort Wednesday would be "a normal day with the golf course open."
St. John "didn't even get a good rain," the release quoted rental property manager Donald Schnell as saying, perhaps prematurely. And on St. Thomas, Rik Blyth, general manager of Wyndham Sugar Bay Beach Club and Resort, was quoted as saying "the sun was shining at about 2 p.m." Tuesday. The resort had instituted its hurricane safety measures prior to the storm, Blyth noted, "and provided hourly updates to the guests, along with food and amenities."
Early Tuesday morning, the hurricane had seemed be bearing down directly on St. John, St. Thomas and Puerto Rico. Then, at mid-morning, it took an unexpected turn to the north. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, Debby was other people's problem.
The storm center was passing north of Puerto Rico, with hurricane watches in effe
ct for Haiti, Cuba and the central Bahamas. On its continuing west-northwesterly track at about 21 mph, the center was expected to pass just north of Hispaniola and approach the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southern Bahamas Wednesday. Maximum sustained winds remained at 75 mph but some strengthening of the hurricane was expected.
National Hurricane Center forecasters in Coral Gables, Fla., said that there were indications that Debby could strengthen into a major hurricane by the end of the week. Its current track would take it straight to Miami, but forecasters said it could veer to the Gulf of Mexico or northward.
