Checking in

SO glad to hear you're safe SJJ, and my heart goes out...from what I'm reading and hearing, more help is on the way to meet the basic needs at this time.

glad to hear you are okay

So glad you're OK. Have been seeing a handful of pictures and video trickle in. Saw Consortium's lengthy video of Cruz Bay posted on Facebook today that broke my heart.

Hang tough. We're (STXers) doing what we can from this end.

SO GLAD TO HEAR FROM YOU!!!! Hang in there!

Thanks guys. Lots of transplants I know are leaving or are making plans to leave. I've seen some thing on social media and such that paint a terrible picture. I'm not trying to discount their experiences, but I think a lot of people are in shock. I feel safe. Some chaos after something like this is to be expected. I think things are stabilizing a bit. There was a stringer national guard presence yesterday and the police started policing, I suspect that curfews will be enforced now. I guess we'll see!

My house is still standing, with a roof. I did much better than many of my neighbors. So I am very lucky. I work for a construction company. I couldn't imagine leaving St. John now when I know St. John really needs me more than ever. It will take time, but we will clean up and rebuild. Life for me has changed, but hope to come out the other end stronger than before.

You are very brave SJJ, an inspiration to all

Reminds me of Hugo ...

I guess this is to be expected, my emotions are up and down, but I still feel hopeful. I was in town briefly yesterday and still don't feel like that's my place at the moment. I have the general feeling that many people are still just in shock and desperate to speak and keep in contact with family and friends that are not here. It's evident from the large numbers of people simply standing in the areas where there is cell service. Tins of people just standing their staring at thei phones. It's kind of creepy to see. There was a meeting my husband attended yesterday, which was largely attended by transplants, his take on the meeting was that they were concerned about safety, protecting property, and how to get out of here. We need to give these people some time to secure their properties and get out of the way so the rest of us can rebuild. It's hard to even organize at this point because we do not share common goals. My boss, a wise man, reminded I need, and our crew needs, to have some things I place for ourselves that makes living here for the long haul a little easier so we can stick it out. So I'm going to try and put a little more focus into getting my house in order so that when the time comes we can get to work I can give it my all. We made it pretty far because if prep, but I had to throw away 75% of my freezer food yesterday. We ha our freezer and chest freezer packed because we had done our big STT shop two weeks before Irma hit. My husband waited in line for 2 hours yesterday to get a bag of cubed ice. They had no more block ice. He waited another two hours at marine dock for deisel fuel. Some idiots tried to break into the racetrack booth and destroyed their computer that pumps gas. Our other gas station is not in service and not sure when it will be.

i am so sorry you are having such a difficult time.

Hang in there (tu)

Yes hang in there! Thanks so much for your update.

All of us on STX feel SO BAD for you guys on STT and STJ!

And know it could so easily have been us.

Please keep us updated when you can.

Yes hang in there! Thanks so much for your update.

All of us on STX feel SO BAD for you guys on STT and STJ!

And know it could so easily have been us.

Please keep us updated when you can.

(tu)

Oh and also, I feel SO BAD for all the BVIs, Anguilla, St. Martin/Maarten, St. Barts, and Barbuda! Since we are on the USVI forum I just mentioned them but my heart breaks for all the islands.

So many islands hit, so much suffering.

Julie, I'm so glad you and your home are relatively ok. My sweetie and I are safe, but our houses are both destroyed. We have a safe place to stay while we begin rebuilding. The hardest part to deal with is the uncertainty and instability. Thankfully, basic needs are being met - food, water, shelter, medical care. We probably will never have such great medical care on St John again!! ???? The real question is what will happen when the relief agencies are all gone. E&C gas station reopens today. No word yet on STJ banks; Post Office officials are going to assess the building's safety and hopefully reopen next week if they can. Day by day we will get through this - some days are harder than others. Thank you to everyone out there for your support. It means more than you know!

So glad to hear from you!!!! I'm sorry that your homes didn't make it. Please reach out if you need some assistance. We all need to help each other. Thank you for the update on the post office. I hadn't heard that yet. Have you heard anything about when the stores and gas stations will receive shipments? I think racetrack is out of gas now. It's hard to tell what is fact and what is rumor. I was in the stores yesterday and they hadn't gotten any new food. But was told by St. John market employee and starfish that they both ha containers in st Thomas. That was 4 days ago and haven't seen them yet. So many people are without cash now that the stores aren't even busy. Was told by someone at merchants they will not open without communications. Who knows how long hat will take!

Thanks so much Julie. Two pieces of good news today - Dolphin can take credit cards (all of their refrigerated stuff is warm, though - I wouldn't touch it). And, the post office will be open today for mail pickup. Both gas stations have gas and are open today. I'm going to see what Starfish has when they open at 9. No matter what happens with Hurricane Maria, we will survive and pick up the pieces. Hang in there! May your family stay safe this week.

so glad to hear that you are physically okay. stay strong. i thought stj was was being evacuated?

Starfish sis get some fresh food. Not the other stores yet though. The marketplace has wifi now, places there open 9-2 (because those are the hours hey run the generator). St. John is not being evacuated. But I'm worried about what Maria will do to us. So many unstable structures and debris everywhere clogging up areas where the water used to naturally flow down hill. Going to spend the day creating paths of least resistance where I am. Which is in a natural gut. When they re-did Gifft Hill road some years ago, they did a fantastic job of engineering it and water flows well without destroying the road. One of the gutters empties into my lower yard. But there are huge downed trees everywhere. There are already a couple of spots where the ground is several feet higher than it was before the storms.

Luckily Maria's hurricane force winds only extend about 30 miles from the center, so I imagine STT and STJ will get the same experience STX did with Irma, just some winds, but I bet there will be a significant more amount of rain.

Hopefully no one from STJ is hiding on STX.. forecasts aren't looking great for STX, she needs to go about 30 miles south (or more!).