Monday’s heavy rains sent non-essential workers and public school students home at noon on all three islands. The heavy rains began Monday morning on St. Thomas and St. John, but V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency Director Mark Walters said the weather system is expected to hit St. Croix starting midday.
"St. Croix is getting nailed right now," National Weather Service meteorologist Roham Abtahi said just before noon.
Government House spokesman Jean Greaux said Gov. John deJongh Jr. was being cautious by sending workers and students home.
Meanwhile Abtahi said the territory will continue to see rain throughout Monday afternoon.
According to Abtahi, St. Thomas got 3.99 inches of rain Monday morning. At Weather Station Zephyr at Ajax Peak, St. John, 1.7 inches of rain fell between 8 a.m. and noon. The hardest rain fell at Weather Station Zephyr at 8:15 a.m. when it rained at 7.78 inches per hour. Abtahi cautioned that rain totals can vary by area.
The weather system is moving from west to east.
"It’s a big low pressure system, a remnant of Tropical Storm Ida that cut off from the Carolina coast and drifted back down here," Abtahi said.
Abtahi expects more weather to hit the area Monday night into Tuesday. He said there was a "decent chance" that it would rain Tuesday, but it probably won’t be as heavy as Monday’s flooding downpours.
"I think this is the worst of it right now," he said.
Abtahi said that he expects the weather system to move out of the area by Tuesday night.
As of 11:30 a.m., Walters said St. Thomas and St. John both had areas that flooded, including by Addelita Cancryn Junior High School, near Pueblo supermarket in Sub Base, Brookman Road and Havensight. On St. John, areas on Centerline Road were under water.
The Government House press release indicated that Public Works Department workers were working at the flooded areas to clear problems.
And a release from the V.I. Police Department urged drivers to be especially careful on the flooded roadways and to call 911 from their cell phones and ask for emergency service if their vehicles became disabled due to the weather.
