Here It Comes (Earl)!

Here's how close he is.

I JUST SPOKE TO A FRIEND WHO IS ON EMERALD HILL (STT) AND HIS POWER WENT OUT. SAYS BRANCHES ARE DOWN EVERYWHERE. CALLED WAPA AND THEY SAID THERE ARE LOTS OF LINES DOWN. SAYS HE RAIN COMES IN BLASTS. HIGHEST TIME WILL BE ABOUT 4:00PM. POLICE SAY NO TRAFFIC ON THE ROADS.

MY HOUSE IS LIKE A TURTLE.

BILLD

We're being spared the worst of it. This is a great loop:

ANybody know what time the worst will be past STT??

Prayers from my wife and I to everyone down there...

Here in Estate Orange Grove, we had a bit of rain and some wind. Power was spotty but is back on as of about 5 pm. Water stopped about 6 pm. Otherwise, it's quite calm and no rain.

Still no power out by Whim (STX west). 🙁

Jay from the looks of the radar the worst just now passed us.

I have a power line draped across my front porch - YIKES! Of course there is no power so it's not a major problem right now. CAlled 911 to ask them to check before they turn the power back on. Will go out at first light and try to move the broken trees limbs from the driveway so they can get here.

i love paradise - truly I do!

Pamela

Pamela - boats ok?

YES!! I just went on NOAA's site and it says "...EARL CONTINUES TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE VIRGIN ISLANDS... "

Just looked at wundergroun. Fiona seems to be missing us all. YEA!

That was a close one! 65 miles is all that separated St Thomas and St John from the eyewall of a CAT 4.

Earl's outflow is gonna do a number on Fiona but the tropical waves are lined up over Africa one behind the other.

Still no power or ATT cell phone service in Cotton Valley.

Earl was a landscaper with a sideways lean.

Tuesday morning and back to normal. My contact in Tortola mentioned that some boats had sunk.

Phewwwww ... happy to see Earl make his exit. I hope everyone survived with no major damage.

We spent part of our last minute preparation herding cats, they didn't seem to mind being herded, what a surprise! They're outdoor cats, formerly feral, now tamed and named. We put a couple in the shed, a few in the garage, and made a "cat fort" on the back porch. All are present and accounted for today. I expect we'll make a 2nd "cat fort" on the front porch ... next time.

I feel very fortunate, we only lost power for about an hour at 6:30 a.m., cable tv (Innovative) was off and on (better than I expected), had our internet connection (BBVI) the entire day as far as I noticed. Very happy to have had minimal interruptions to our "modern-day conveniences"! We live mid-island, Constitution Hill, facing the south, so we probably didn't get nearly as much nasty weather as other parts of the island. Looking around the yard, mostly lots of leaves and small branches to clean up, and a pool that is looking rather swampy ... won't be going for a swim today!

~Jill~

Skyline and the northside of STT appear to be the hardest hit. Power lines and trees down all over. Downtown area seemed ok. Wapa vehicles out surveying the lines. I am glad to report that the gorgeous Flamboyant tree at Drakes Seat did just fine and still has the flowers!! A bright spot on a very messy island
Be safe all

Anyone have reports of the maximum sustained winds on any of the islands?

From all reports I've seen/heard, it looks like the islands were spared from the worst Earl had to offer. So happy to hear it!! Our thoughts are with all of you as you begin the clean up process. God Bless and take care!

Saundra

I'm interested in status report for Water Island. I understand that winds reported at Cyril King airport - gusts up to 69 mph. Though, at higher elevation, once Earl moved to the west, wind gusts probably exceeded 69 mph and assume the west side of Water Island got hammered. Understand there were some boats loose from their moorings. A few aground in Honeymoon. Downed trees. Anyone on Water Island (RockyDock?) up online?

The highest credible reports I see for sustained winds on STT and STJ yesterday were 53 MPH with gusts to 69 MPH, So, none of the USVI experienced hurricane force winds yesterday? Interesting....

No power after 36 hrs, and no AT&T. disappointing compared to other storms we have had.

I was able to reach my property manager on AT&T Wireless on Water Island. So..........not sure that all of USVI AT&T is down.

East end Stx no poet no phone.

Buck: What kind of poet do you need? I can whip up a limerick.

Here's a timely article:
"Hurricane Earl may test IT teleworkers"
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9182763/Hurricane_Earl_may_test_IT_teleworkers