With all the well-deserved self-congratulations circulating in the territory about how well the islands stood up to the wrath of wrong-way Lenny, there are several things that should not be overlooked.
The first is mitigation. We were prepared for this one. Thanks to federal standards for rebuilding imposed after Marilyn, our structures for the most part withstood the pounding from Lenny.
The second is that best of all teachers, experience. As a community we have learned to heed our hurricane watches and warnings and be ready for the worst. Gone are the days of relaxed attitudes about these storms.
The third is a greatly improved response time and attitude. It would seem that our public utility workers were also prepared in their homes, so that they could be available to the community to do whatever was necessary before and after the storm to get us back on line with power, water and telephone service as quickly as possible. Our heartfelt thanks go out to the employees of the Water And Power Authority and the V.I. Telephone Corp. who have been working as hard as they can to give us back a normal life as quickly as they can.
The last is something we should never overlook: good, old-fashioned luck. As a friend likes to say, it's better to be lucky that to be right.
We hesitate to attribute this luck to God or a Higher Power. What would that mean — that God is mad at our neighbors on Sint Maarten and the other islands that were not so lucky?
No, we think preparation with a large dose of luck was our savior on this one. We do thank whatever Power is out there for the luck. And we hope that complacency doesn't set in on the preparation end of it next time as a result.
