HURRICANE RESTORATION UPDATE
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Additional manpower and shipments of materials and supplies are on island to augment Water and Power Authority’s (WAPA’s) restoration efforts in both districts.
On St. Thomas, Thursday, additional customers in Frenchtown and Hull Bay were energized while other crews continued reconstruction work in Altona and Welgunst, Peterborg, Sub Base, Mafolie, Skyline Drive and at the entrance to Northstar Village on St. Peter Mountain Road.
On St. John, additional customers in Contant, Cruz Bay and Enighed, the area of Fish Bay and on Roman Hill Road were restored while crews prepared to reenergize customers in Bordeaux Mountain, Ajax Peak and Upper Carolina.
On St. Croix, some customers in Hermon Hill, Sion Farm, Tan Tan Terrace, William’s Delight, Barren Spot, Mount Pleasant West and Ludvig Harrigan Court were restored, as was the St. George Botanical Garden. Restoration work commenced in Judith’s Fancy and toward Mon Bijou. In Frederiksted, crews prepared 42 locations for replacement street lights to be installed. Crews will continue to work on replacement streetlights toward Hannah’s Rest as well as from Mars Hill toward the east.
On Friday, the Valdemar Hill Sr. Drive, “Skyline Drive” on St. Thomas, will again be closed to vehicular traffic from 8:30-11:30 a.m., and again from 1-4 p.m., as crews perform reconstruction work and debris removal. The road closure will be in effect from the intersection of Louisenhoj Castle to the Donoe Bypass. Area residents will be allowed to access their homes during the road closure. Alternate routes are available for motorists who must traverse the area. Additionally, traffic flow may be restricted to one-lane on Mafolie Hill at times Friday as work continues in the area. Other crews will work in Subbase, Scott Free, St. Peter Mountain Road, Estate Pearl, Benner Hill, Nadir and Mariendahl.
On Thursday, the Valdemar Hill Sr. Drive, “Skyline Drive” on St. Thomas, will be closed to vehicular traffic from 8:30-11:30 a.m., and again from 1-4 p.m., as crews perform reconstruction work and debris removal. The road closure will be in effect from the intersection of Louisenhoj Castle to the Donoe Bypass. Area residents will be allowed to access their homes during the road closure. Alternate routes are available for motorists who must traverse the area. Additionally, traffic flow may be restricted to one-lane on Mafolie Hill at times Thursday as work continues in the area. Crews will also work on Harwood Highway from Pueblo Supermarket toward MSI Building Supplies. This work may also reduce the west bound traffic flow to one lane.
On St. Croix, Friday, crews will work in Sion Farm, Estate Glynn, William’s Delight, Frederiksted, Mount Pleasant West and Barren Spot.
On St. Croix, a partial road closure will be in effect on Thursday on the Island Center Road (Route 79) westward to the intersection with Northside Road (Route 75). This roadway will experience a complete road closure on Saturday as crews work in the area.
A restoration schedule was published for the next two weeks detailing areas where crews will be restoring service. WAPA remains committed to its previously stated goal of restoring 90 percent of all areas in the territory by Dec. 25. The restoration schedule is available on WAPA’s website: www.viwapa.vi and on Facebook: Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority.
Through an agreement reached with the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, WAPA will restore electrical service to homes with temporary roofs (blue roofs) once a licensed electrician has certified, in writing, that the structure is safe to energize.
Customers and electricians are reminded that it is against the law to remove or otherwise destroy meter seals. If work needs to be done to repair a damaged meter base and/or weather head, customers must call the Emergency Call Center at 774-1424 on St. Thomas-St. John or 773-0150 on St. Croix. The call centers operate seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If your electric meter was removed by WAPA personnel to facilitate repairs to either a meter base and/or weather head, once repairs are completed and a licensed electrician certifies the work in writing, customers are required to contact the Customer Service Office to ensure that the meter will be reinstalled and resealed prior to the restoration of electrical service. All fees usually associated with meter removal and reconnection have been waived. Customer service offices are operating Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sunny Isle on St. Croix and Port of Sale Mall on St. Thomas.
Reconstruction, restoration and hurricane debris removal crews are deployed across the islands. Motorists are asked to exercise caution when driving through the work areas and to heed the directions of flaggers and VIPD officers who are assisting with traffic control.
WAPA urges residents to shut off standby generators when line crews are in their neighborhoods restoring electrical service. A standby generator has the potential to back feed electricity to the grid, which poses a severe safety risk to restoration crews.
POTABLE WATER SYSTEM
There are five days of emergency water storage on St. John, eight days on St. Thomas, and five days on St. Croix.
WAPA urges clean-up contractors and homeowners in both districts to exercise caution when piling debris on and around potable water meters. There are a growing number of instances where water meters are being damaged by clean-up equipment grading debris and causing damage to the roadside water meters. The continued damage by heavy equipment poses difficulty in maintaining or restoring potable water service to customers.
OTHER INFORMATION
Emergency Call Centers operate 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week.
St. Thomas-St. John district, 774-1424; St. Croix district, 773-0150
WAPA telephone contact: St. Thomas-St. John District, 774-3552; St. Croix district, 773-2250
Customer Service Offices operate Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sunny Isle on St. Croix and at Port of Sale Mall on St. Thomas
WAPA website: www.viwapavi / Facebook: Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority
