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Monday, September 11, 2017

Hurricane Irma

As some of you may know, Hurricane Irma slammed into the Caribbean with a force never experienced before, and is still working her way through Florida.

All of my family on St. John, St. Thomas, and Puerto Rico are present and accounted for. I'm confident my cousins in Florida will be okay as they are on the east coast.

To say the area is devastated is an understatement. It will be 3 to 6 months before power is restored to everyone. It will take years to recover.

My sister, who lives on St. Thomas and I, were/and are mightily blessed to have had cell phone communication throughout. At the height of the storm we were talking and she said, in this very calm voice from the bathtub where she was huddled, "There goes the roof." Luckily it was "only" her porch rood which was picked up and hurled over the rest of the house and landed a good 40 feet on the hillside behind her house. Perhaps caused by one of those 200 plus mph gusts...

The trees and bushes have been blasted, branches twisted off, tossed aside and leaves stripped off. Many trees have had the bark stripped off them. One has to wonder how many trees will die.

If you have the stomach, a few random pictures with locations.

A section of our property on St. John. Most of the buildings survived in tact but have damage. The mahogany tree on the right will come back as will the tree on the left.

Cruz Bay, St. John
 Cruz Bay, St. John. That's three boats piled on the beach next to the ferry dock.

St. Thomas - The difference between a good roof and cheap roof. Cost-U-Less, a large bulk grocery store. In front, relatively untouched, the movie theater and shops. 

Boat yard - St. Thomas


 Disappearing road - St. Thomas

 Looking towards town - St. Thomas

Beautiful Magens Bay - St. Thomas

The Harbor and down town - St. Thomas

 Typical hillside - St. Thomas


Random damage - St. Thomas








The famous Bluebeard's Castle, St. Thomas

Interior of the hospital, St. Thomas. Despite a concrete roof the 3rd and 4th floors were destroyed. Patients have been evacuated to St. Croix and Puerto Rico.

A church on St. Thomas.


Good news, within three days the Navy arrived with a hospital ship along with the Marines. People in Puerto Rico, which wasn't nearly as affected is shuttling supplies and help back and forth from the eastern port of Fajardo. These private citizens are also taking people to PR who are in need of medical services. The Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean are sending ships to drop off supplies and pick up stranded people. All a body needs is have a passport if it can be found... Aid is coming from the 3 or more million Virgin Islanders, including Tim Duncan, who live across the U.S. The air strip is open (though the airport building was damaged) for relief and charter flights only.

Please keep my beautiful island home, and all those in the Caribbean affected by this storm, in your thoughts and prayers.

It is a bizarre and surreal experience to watch TV or open my fridge or sleep under a roof or drive unhindered to the grocery store or flip on a light switch or turn on a water tap, when I know my sister will not be able to do any of those things for a long time.

I will be off my blog for an indefinite period of time.

Being Thankful
I'm thankful all my family and friends are alive and okay.

17 comments:

  1. It is utterly devastating Bish. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone. I will miss you while you are away.

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    1. There's also Tortola and Virgin Gorda in the BVI. They got it really bad too. Sir Richard Branson rode out the storm in his mansion with his staff. His place looks completely demolished. At least he's there and probably has the means of getting help to the people. I don't know much about him, but my respect for him has grown immensely. He didn't run away, he stayed!

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  2. Glad your family is all all right.
    I guess that one place had cheap groceries due to the cheap roof.
    Scary how all of the trees are bare. So much damage...

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  3. Hi Bish - thanks for sharing with us - but am so glad to your family is safe and relatively undamaged. Amazing photos you've shared with us - thank you for that. Interesting about Sir Richard Branson - he's quite a philanthropist ... and very down to earth - as this shows.

    Thanks Bish ... all the very best to you, your family, cousins, and friends etc ... Hilary

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  4. I'm happy to hear family and house survived, but those photos are heartbreaking.

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  5. How horrible. Glad you and yours are okay!

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  6. Glad your family and you are safe. Sorry that it is going to take them all so long to rebuild.

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  7. I'm glad to hear you're all OK. Totally understand your need to be away.

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  8. Prayers for all affected by Harvey and Irma. I'm glad all your family are safe. Take care of yourself.

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  9. So much damage, you must have been terrified by the ferociousness of that storm. You survived thank God.

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  10. Such devastation. Unbelievable. So glad your family are all right. Wish that for all affected. Take care!

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  11. So sorry about all of this, Bish. Take care of yourself and your family.

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  12. Dear Bish - I do hope Maria isn't going to devastate matters even more ... I'm thinking of your family and you as the worry sets in ... with the bestest thoughts possible - Hilary

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  13. *hugs* Your pictures are heartbreaking. I've survived a much smaller typhoon. The damage they do is mind boggling. And humbling.

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  14. Been thinking about you a lot lately. Of course, STX survived Irma in much better shape that STT, but then came Maria. The devastation in heartbreaking. At least all of our friends are safe and accounted for. The aftermath will take a long time to correct, but these are a very strong people. The best to you and yours.

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  15. I hope the people of the Virgin Islands are getting the help they need. Take care.

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Your Random Thoughts are most welcome!