During Monday’s Government House press briefing, Director of Communications Richard Motta announced that President Joe Biden had issued an emergency disaster declaration for the territory in response to Tropical Storm Ernesto. This declaration means that federal funding will be available to help minimize the impact of the storm, following a damage assessment by FEMA.
Despite numerous public notices, the V.I. Water and Power Authority announced that power has been restored to 98 percent of the territory following Tropical Storm Ernesto’s visit, with close to hurricane-force wind and rain, six days ago.
Don Gregoire, WAPA territorial incident commander, announced that St. Thomas is 96 percent restored, 99 percent of power has been returned to St. Croix, and 97 percent of St. John is reenergized.
A major problem hindering energy recovery was the lack of tree trimming throughout the year. Gregoire mentioned that in previous years, crews or contractors had been hired to cut trees to reduce potential debris, but no funding was allocated for this in this year’s budget. Although there are standard procedures to prepare for a storm, Gregoire said the authority’s financial problems affected preparations.
“We’ve had a lot of trouble with bucket trucks and keeping the fleet up. Tree trimming is a full-time job,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can with the resources that we have. Once our financial position improves, we feel there are a lot of areas we can improve on,” he said.
Recovery from the 2017 hurricanes included the goal of replacing 50 percent of the territory’s poles with wind-resistant composite material to support the power lines. So far, not quite half have been replaced, but none of the recently installed 8,500 composite poles were lost. He added that fire destroyed 54 wooden poles throughout the territory.
Until power has been restored to the entire territory, Gregoire said people with isolated outages should call WAPA customer service at 340-773-2250 or 340-774-3552, Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to report outages.
Currently, crews are working to restore power in sections of all three islands, including Estate Pearl on St. Thomas, Chocolate Hole on St. John and St. Croix’s rain forest.
“Our teams are focused on restoring power as quickly and safely as possible, and we’ll continue to keep you informed every step of the way,” Gregoire said.
Executive Director Daryl Jaschen, with the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency, discussed the current weather forecast and offered other updates. He said drier air and Saharan dust will affect the territory until Wednesday, when a tropical wave, with limited showers, will pass through. However, storm formation is not expected during the next week. On Monday, St. Croix experienced a heat advisory.
“Anyone overcome by heat should move to a cooled area. Heat stroke is an emergency. Please call 911,” Jaschen said.
Jaschen said 24 boats broke moorings in Virgin Island waters, but the airports, hospitals, fire stations, and police stations are “normal.”
More than 10,000 sandbags were distributed in July, and Jaschen encouraged residents to keep them handy throughout the rest of the hurricane season., which typically ends on November 30.
According to the executive director, green waste from St. Thomas commercial haulers will be accepted at Bovoni Landfill on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Viya expects to be fully restored on Monday, and Liberty said its lines are back up.
According to Ryan Nugent, DHS communications director, the Human Services Department is open and running on a generator.
Nugent discussed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). He said food purchased with SNAP benefits can be replaced but federal emergency benefits are not available at this time. As much as a month’s worth of food can be replaced – beneficiaries have 10 days to apply. Nugent said seniors with disabilities can also apply for benefits, including gasoline for their vehicles.
For information on how to apply, click here.
At the end of the weekly media briefing, Motta announced that Gov. Albert Bryan will attend the National Democratic Convention in Chicago this week.
