wondering if St thomas and Tortola ports will be available to dock by the end of Nov?

[zqvol]

These islands have been devastated. St. Thomas will probably bounce back the fastest but that could still be months. Tortola, St. John's, Jost Van Dyke, Virgin Gorda all look like bombs went off. The majority of the vegetation is gone, the mountains are mostly brown instead of green and most structures, utilities, etc. are compromised. I suspect it will be at least a year if not more before tourists can come back. It will take much more than that for the trees to come back.

 

Sorry to be so glum but I don't think people realize that this wasn't your typical hurricane damage. Its not getting enough coverage because of the threat to Florida and what happened to Houston (understandably).

 

Keep them in your prayers and donate to their reconstruction if you can.

 

This site has been posting aerial views of all the islands. It is heartbreaking.

 

Also see Coast Guard flyover of St.Thomas.

 

I agree with all that you say, with one minor and inconsequential exception. Vegetation will return in weeks. Things grow really fast on the islands, but truthfully that is the least of their concerns.

[hawkman402]

I agree with all that you say, with one minor and inconsequential exception. Vegetation will return in weeks. Things grow really fast on the islands, but truthfully that is the least of their concerns.

True for leaves, etc but if you look at a lot of the pictures, large swaths of trees have been completely uprooted. I think that will take more time but I hope you are right. I fear that without the green, tourists will be less likely to go back.

[gtaylor]

so hope you are right. I was listening to NPR news late yesterday and they had a totally different story when they spoke with some experts in Florida. Both of them said Jose is likely to do severe damage to the already hit islands in the Caribbean but not likely to hit Florida and Katia could very well hit the Gulf coast of Mexico pretty strongly. Of course this in NPR; they are about the most negative network there is so I guess we can take what they say with a grain of salt for now.

We listen to NPR regularly, and I didn't remember this take on their hurricane stories, so I went back to listen and check. Found All Things Considered for September 8th.

 

As far as I can tell, this is a transcript of that part of your story, and I don't see much negativity here, and not much elsewhere on NPR. Could it have been a different story that pushed your button?

 

SIEGEL: And there are two more hurricanes in the region.

HAMILTON: There are. There is Hurricane Katia in the Gulf that's heading toward Mexico shortly, and then there's Jose, which is another major hurricane out in the Atlantic. And the last time I looked, it had winds of 150 miles an hour. And it's probably not going to hit the U.S., but it could hit some of the same Caribbean islands that are still recovering from Irma. So I guess stay tuned.

SIEGEL: NPR's Jon Hamilton in Coconut Grove, Fla. Jon, thanks.

HAMILTON: You're welcome.

 

gary

[CruisingUS]

I doubt it....they still digging up the dead...it's going to be a while for them to recover.

[Laszlo]

Latest news on St John, its not good

 

http://newsofstjohn.com/2017/09/10/sunday-update-2/

[mking8288]

VIConsortium news reporting is "more" upbeat - but, it is still not a pretty picture of the disaster.

http://viconsortium.com/featured/relief-effort-update-help-on-the-way-for-st-john-power-to-be-restored-to-cruz-bay-mass-tourist-evacuation-starts-today/

 

Two cruise ships are to arrive today to evacuate 2,000 stranded tourists on the island (thanks to NCL & Royal) ... those from nearby islands are providing mutual aid. A curfew is in place. Washington Post and NBC news have additional coverage - "Google" search is your friend for information.

 

Keep those who endured losses & destruction in our thoughts - now, what was the question again ... leave it to the recovery folks later on, IMO.

[purpletequila]

The people have always been so kind on every island I've visited. I hate to hear this about St John. For some reason, I envisioned the community coming together and helping each other.

[terry55]

My sister lives on St John. She wasn't able to call me until Saturday. She lives in Coral Bay and it took hours to get to Cruz Bay, which is where ferries dock and the "downtown". Thank God she is ok, but so shaken. So many have nothing. Said it does look like a war zone. Could be months before her side of island has power. Westin and Caneel had damage and getting ferries to take tourists to St Croix and Puerto Rico. So many houses gone. She was one of blessed that her house is still standing....only one in neighborhood, Medical supplies/attention, food, water etc being ferried in. No vegetation. I am scheduled to cruise end of October, but have a strong feeling will be rerouted. Wish we would be stopping in STT so I could bring things to her.

[hawkman402]

These islands have been devastated. St. Thomas will probably bounce back the fastest but that could still be months. Tortola, St. John's, Jost Van Dyke, Virgin Gorda all look like bombs went off. The majority of the vegetation is gone, the mountains are mostly brown instead of green and most structures, utilities, etc. are compromised. I suspect it will be at least a year if not more before tourists can come back. It will take much more than that for the trees to come back.

 

Sorry to be so glum but I don't think people realize that this wasn't your typical hurricane damage. Its not getting enough coverage because of the threat to Florida and what happened to Houston (understandably).

 

Keep them in your prayers and donate to their reconstruction if you can.

 

This site has been posting aerial views of all the islands. It is heartbreaking.

 

Also see Coast Guard flyover of St.Thomas.

To follow up on my earlier post. These images of before and after from NASA show how much devastation there was to just the vegetation alone.

 

[jpcdds6]

I still haven't spoken to my sister and brother in law on Tortola. But I heard that they were seen in a shelter. I assume the island is in very bad shape. He was in the water purification business, so I am sure he has his hands full.