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The Caribbean Hurricane PageUpdates from the Islands
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See also the updates on this webpage: http://www.house.gov/christian-green/hurricane.htm
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 23:35:51 -0300 From: eric lidicker (ericlidicker@csi.com) Subject: Re: St. John Not much to report about as the effects of Hurricane Marilyn fade quickly here on STJ. Some scattered still lack power and no cable until next week and while I was gently criticized for my robust rosy outlook for STJ (apparently due to me being among the first to get power back) I had to point out to the speaker a) in the early 80s off the top of my head I can think of two tropical storms that did more visible damage than this Hurricane that got zero coverage or notice and b) three days after Marilyn could he have concieved that we would be going to the ferry dock that night to pick up villa rental guests?? We were more concerned about how many cans of food we still had on the shelf! Its worth noting now that the USVI is offically a disaster area that this ominous sounding action is more due to the complete lack of funds and financial ruin that the VI govt. sits on than the severity of the damage. By requesting and receiving this status the VI govt is relieved of 75% of the financial burden for road clearing and so forth. Until the next storm...hopefully next year if at all!! later eric
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 21:11:22 -0300 From: eric lidicker (ericlidicker@csi.com) Subject: St. John - Minor Damgage!! Greetings, STJ suffered relatively minor damage. A combination of the storm not being as strong, preparation and all the weak stuff having been blown away and rebuilt better. Lots of leaves and seeral trees that were top heavy with tremendous growth from the wetter weather we've had since Marilyn (compared to the droughts of the early 90s). Very little boat damage again as above and folks listening this time when told which bays are safe. Overall, a little Marilyn paranoia over the last 3 years went a long way to keeping everyone safe. In another twn years folks will get careless again most likely. Even now its little worrisome since some "new" folks think they just experienced a fierce hurricane. Coral Bay was shellacked worse it seems, but things are almost back to normal. Phone lines stayed on the whole time even though we lost our microwave dish uplink for LD!!! Amazing. Skinny Legs lost some galvanized which I beleive they have already put back on so don't worry the burgers are still there! As of tonight I beleive the majority of the island has been re-energized except for Caneel to Cinammon and the further out parts of Coral Bay. The balance should come through by this weekend. WAPA is awesome. For years the joke was " God said let there be light.......but WAPA said NO WAY!!" Tonight they got power going 8 minutes before our first post storm renters arrived on the 7 pm ferry!! We were ready to put them in another of our places more deluxe, but Wapa said they would do it today and the did. More guests arriving tomorrow and Saturday. SOme delays & luggage probs via SJU due to the situation there . Bigger hotels are taking a time-out to refurbish but the Villas are doing good. (obviously thats a case by case basis with some being faster than others). No curfew on STJ tonight that I know of. Everyone's going out for a nice dinner just like Saturday before the storm. Some schools are open now, public to open Mon. LD still a little delayed and easier to call here than to call up there but fadiing fast. later eric
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 10:04:01 -0400 From: LISA CRUMRINE (LCRUM@worldnet.att.net) Subject: st john usvi please tell the world that we are just fine.. sustained very little damage, mostly trees and stuff. power is about 60% restored. long distance phone service is coming back. we had phone service throughout the storm. wasn't as bad as it could have been. please GEt some information out to UPI and AP that we are great, no probs. Lisa in St. john usvi
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 13:18:00 PDT From: S. M. Bowers (smyers5821@hotmail.com) Subject: St. John For Lee & John Fuller (who are traveling in Europe -Gert): House above Cruz Bay Hi Mom - Just in case your e-mail server is still down. I talked to Deanna around 2:30pm Wednesday and she, your house and the kitty cats are fine. The house was dry except for a little puddle of water that leaked in from the louvers in the copula. Power is up in Cruz Bay but still out at the house. Deanna said it should hopefully be restored sometime later today. Long distance was just recently restored however they did have local access the whole time. Winds were up to 110mph with gusts up to 130mph in higher elevations. The only damage to the property seems to be a tree that fell down over the path near the carport steps and she wanted to know whether or not to try and save it or have it cut down. Give me a call when you get to England. Stephanie
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 00:35:53 -0300 From: eric lidicker (ericlidicker@csi.com) Subject: Re: St. John Out of the loop but following is some quick info somewhat redunant due to the recent posts, but heck its nearly 1 am. Sorry for the non-sensical cut& paste from other e-mails & will post something more coherent & detailed Thursday night. later A! I was wondering if anyone out there was reading that & know I now. Everything is good. Town has power, Mongoose of course doesn't, but Glen was going to re-do the power hook up w/ WAPA anyway next week so he may be delaying and doing it now. Very minimal home damages. Only one roof we know of (Gloria S works for J at Dockside). Mostly just water, wet, leaves & inconivience!! Curfew tonight again probably gone tomorrow. Puerto Rico got a direct hit though, 600,000 no power or water, tens of thousands in shelters. First time in 40-50 years Hurricane hit the island head on and crossed over the center I hear (all others that hit brushed it or crossed the ends or corners etc..) Hitting Cuba know & A says Home Depot opened out 6 am with a line of 300. Don't know if it will hit her but looks like it....hopefully weaking further after hitting so many islands. Your house is fine. Following is text of message I just wrote to someone which will fill you in. Just d/l 73 messages so gotta conserve!!Hi worried mom! I've got one of those too. Don't know y by name but island is small enough odds are I've seen her around. Everything is okay here. Very mild hurricane. No boats up in Great Cruz or Cruz Bay. Preparations were much better this year and the storm much less severe. A very happy combination. Alot of tree stuff, but I don't count that much. As usual Coral Bay got more wind whipping on the plant life so she maybe a little stressed by that? But don't worry. Keep trying LD if you wish. We got it back limited last night. I could have logged on starting yesterday as well, but had to move back in my damp place and reconnect the computer after drying it out. Cruz Bay has power now. They usually run it up to the clinic first then go down Gift Hill to Chocolate hole & Great Cruz. Then contiue past the clinic out to Coral Bay so she may have to struggle w/o power for antoher day or two. I can pass word to her via a common friend if you wish if you know their names. Coral Bay people I can think of now offhand are....ring any bells. Anyway, worry alot less & come visit!
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 15:04:19 EDT From: PDMORE@aol.com Subject: St. John's I spoke with the Tamerind Inn (sp) and the phones are working, but very busy so keep trying. Minimal damage and a friend there said "by next weekend you won't even know a hurricane hit the island". Thank god everyone's ok. [...] Kevin Densmore Raleigh, NC
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 98 13:45:01 -0500 From: efrem.zimbalist@tmm.com Subject: St. John My house is between Great Cruz Bay and Chocolate Hole. I just heard from our leasing agent that there was "no structural damage" to the house. Hope others have the same experience. This is a terriic service. Keep up the great work. Skip Zimbalist
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 11:05:25 -0500 From: Kate Walden (hsainc3@ix.netcom.com) Subject: John's Folly Bay, St. John I just received a phonemail message from our son, Brian Walden, who lives with his family on the east end of St. John. Their electric and phones are out, however, their house, outbuildings and vehicles sustained no damage (except for the downed electric pole). He says damage on the island appears relatively minor compared to previous storms, but there were some homes which lost roofs and a lot of trees down. Seemed to be spared the brunt of Georges. Thank goodness!! Gert, you have been a lifesaver for us. We can't thank you enough for being there and the only source of information during these last horrible days when absolutely no word about the USVI seemed to exist. Bless you! Kate Walden Austin, Texas
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 11:39:52 -0400 From: e (telesy19@idt.net) Subject: news re st john and hurricane 9/23/98 10:30AM I just heard from Steve Conelys wife that steve has reported very little damage to St John, he lives on Bordeaux in Coral bay "Vila Dos Palmas"that power is likely by tomorrow The only damage apparent is to steves new landscaping Looks like we got lucky this time regards bill coady
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 09:36:46 EDT From: DESIGNSBEV@aol.com Subject: Report from St. John Finally got through to my daughter in St. John (Cruz Bay). They have not been able to get any calls out, and mine was the first incoming call. St. John (where my daughter/niece are) apparently suffered very little! The winds were about 110 mph, and the rain was tremendous, but seems everyone had taken great precautions, so there were no injuries nor deaths on St. John. Lots of trees down, flowers uprooted, but the homes and stores seem to have survived with minimal damage. Debbie said when they heard the U.S. Govt. had declared it a "Disaster Area" they were laughing and worrying because they knew no one in the States would be able to know what was actually going on and all their families would be worred sick. We were. My niece spent the storm duration at her house, Aerie, right on top of the hill - seems they have pretty well prepared one room - they did lose lots of trees anf flowers and their small boat, but otherwise okay. Debbie spent the time downtown with friends in a concrete building, where they could watch from an enclosed porch. As a newcomer to the island, she said it was terrifying and awesome, but the damage where she was very minimal. But thanks to prayers and the grace of God they all got through! Bev Luther
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 21:47:14 -0400 From: esfan1 (esfan1@gateway.net) Subject: Update on St. John About 4:30pm this afternoon we finally got a call from my brother and his wife who live on St. John. Although they spent the night at Cafe Roma with some others, they were able to return to their home early this evening. They said it was the most frightening experience of their lives. They were more shocked at how little damage was actually done to the island. Cafe Roma lost part of its roof and one window. He also said there were a few boats washed up on the beach. Of course, there are alot of trees down, but the roads were not totally unpassable. They still did not have electricity, but they were surprised that they did have the phone service. They were exhausted from being up all night mopping up and will get a better look in the morning. Christine Esfandiari.
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 17:50:47 -0400 From: Joseph Rogers (jrogers@mhasp.org) Subject: MEDIA ADVISORY Moved to St.Thomas updates.
[Tue, 22 Sep 1998 14:58EDT] - Dana Victor Montenegro reporting on the USVI:
Moved to the St.Thomas page
[Sun, 20 Sep 1998 16:15EDT] - Eric Lidicker reporting from St.John (USVI):
The rain has started this afternoon around 3;45 p.m. Every window is boarded
or shuttered and stores are winding down to close. Not overwhelmed because
everyone has been continuously stocking up for a day or two.
Forecasted to pass directly over STX, but one track could pass it over STT
instead as the storm seems to keep flexing a little more north each time, but
not as much as we'd like (i.e. missing us).
This storm may be stronger than Marilyn, but with a little luck damage will at
worst or possibly a little less since everyone is prepared and re-built or
fortified. Luis was anticlimatic and made everyone discount Marilyn which was
a weaker & smaller storm but since it went right over us was very bad. Many
people who had un-boarded from Luis after a mad scramble to do so, did not do
it again much to their regret.
Bush & trees are trimmed back and at this time nearly everyone is as ready as
they will ever be.
Expected trop. conditions at 9-10 pm and hurricane conditions expected to
begin midnight to 2 am and increase in feriocity after that.
[Sun, 20 Sep 1998 00:25EDT] - Eric Lidicker reporting from St.John (USVI):
On St. John as Saturday draws to a close, many people have used the
afternoon to for significant preparation w/ the expectation of Trop.
Storm conditions late Sunday. Folks seem to have the ease preparation
brings (unlike past years) yet are fully aware the situation could be
very bad. Most have made the Trop. Storm prep. and will evaluate in
early a.m. to see if any final preparations are necessary for a cat. 2-4
hurricane. Early eve. many were discovering the broadcasting of one
track showing the eye passing over STX which was an unwelcome
development. Most are not over-confident but aware that Marilyn & Luis
"cleaned" out many weaker buildings and those weak buildings that
survived have been substantially butressed since then. In any case, STJ
suffered much less than STT in Marilyn by being somewhat less
vulnerable.
Boats have moved, barges & ferrys are chained together & secured in the
creek and most people have completed today's efforts with a nice dinner
out....just in case. Talk in town is of the storm, current & past, but
is not out of hand.
Sundays plan, in an informal poll, is to make final prep. in the a.m.,
take a swim weather permitting and then settle in to watch football as
long as the cable holds out!
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