How's TS Dorian treating everyone so far?

Hi Alana, raining fairly gently but consistently on northside of St. Thomas, no wind to speak of. Power came back on at 10am as WAPA estimated.  

On a side note, the weather is triggering memories and ill feelings tied to experiences during Irma.  

Thanks, Islander.

My tenant said, so far so good but lots of last minute shopping and gas lines this AM before curfew went into effect at noon until 6AM tomorrow.

Darned thing moved a lot closer to STX  than anticipated and is now trying to develop an eyewall. Schupps!

Guess I'll be watching Dorian for awhile since I'm in FL.

Here's latest from WAPA:

Northside, St. Thomas: Winds have picked up a lot. Peeked out of a window, some small trees have snapped. Rain continues. Power is out. 

Dorian definitely took a detour to STX. Original track was well south of us, but I’m most certain the eye passed over the east-end a few hours ago. During the lull I closed up a few more shutters. With original reports of less than 30mph, I only closed up one. WAPA dropped out around 10:30 here, still out at 2:30.

Just got an Emergency Alert a few minutes ago for STT. 80 mph winds with gust of 111mph. 

It’s no longer a Tropical Storm, it’s now an intensifying hurricane headed for FLA.

Hang on Alana33!

Cat 1, blowing like stink and heavy rains.

It's right over STT!

Certainly didn't expect this, at ALL.

I am @Sugar Beach, and it went past east of us. We did get some moderate winds and some rain. 

I am not too far from the power plant and I don't hear any noise. It is probably about 1/8 of a mile only from the apartment.

I did follow the storm as much as I could and I noticed the eye north of us and headed to STT at around 1:30pm.  

@singlefin

Yeah, singlefin!

I'm sure I'll be watching Dorian for awhile yet since now the weather news is saying it plans to visit FL.

People up here really don't prepare and majority of gas stations and grocery stores close since they don't have generators. Can't get ice, once stores close and everything closes.

After Irma, up here, no power for 10 days in my location.

It's not like you can open a window for any breeze!

I was dying even tho I had battery operated fans!

Finally, took my dog, remaining groceries and went to my sister's house until power was back at mine. I now own a large propane generator with auto transfer.

That’s something else Rowdy802.

I’m probably not more than 8 miles east of you, we had fairly substantial winds out of the north before the lull I spoke of earlier. It only lasted about an hour and a half though. Lots of rain!

One positive, the sea is looking good for surfing!

Northside, St Thomas. Still drizzling. A few big mature trees went down, didn’t expect it since winds didn’t seem all that strong where I’m at, but obviously they were. No power. 

Interesting about the two nearby spots in St Croix having very different amounts of wind.

Alana, be safe in FL.

Thanks Islander!

All okay at home in Dorothea for which I'm extremely grateful!

Dorian took us by surprise intensifying and last minute course change! No one I know boarded up!

Tons of leaf litter and a downed tree across road that neighbors and my tenant were chain-sawing and removed.

Power out in STT location. 

Fingers crossed for FL.

Shopped today. Will gas up tomorrow.

Pretty much do same thing up here as in STT in terms off prepping early and being as prepared as I can.

All the best to all of you.

Singlefin, yes, it was weird, but the storm was so compact. At one point it was shown going right over us, latter on I saw the actual path it took was east of downtown C'sted.

Power got restored at "condo row" @ around 6:45PM. 

I never had to fully close the storm shutters that this 3rd floor apartment has at the balcony. 

It was just a rainy day with some gusty winds on the south shore east end of STX where I live. The power was out when I got home from work at noon so I had a beer and took a nap hoping WAPA would come back by the time I woke up. When I woke up at 5 pm, still no WAPA so I put on the generator and made some dinner.

Overall, it wasn't too bad and about what I had expected having not prepared in any meaningful way except to ensure the generator was gassed up and battery charged for starting.

the storm wasnt bad at all in christiansted. the power being out, big drag 

STX didn't get it like STT did.

Y'all lucked out!

We got ambushed!

Glad it wasn't more serious.

Scary being unprepared

You know those new WAPA composite poles that were supposed to withstand 200 mph winds, They don't! A few on north side snapped off at their bases. Hope we get our money back for dem ting!

Power still out many locations in STT.

Ports and Airports reopened.

Composite poles snapped with a catagory 1? Watching them go up, I often wondered, if one did come down, how would you cut through it? After Maria, when the old wood poles came down everywhere, at least you could chainsaw your way to town.

i set my alarm to read the 5am NHC update and then satellite imagery  - so I knew it was serious and coming close or worse. Totally shuttered house, did full prep inside and weathered it well. Quite a blowing event and very rainy, lost some trees, had no power until 715 Thurs,[still hoping it stays on], ran generator this morning and earlier tonight, had solar lights brought inside, [work great, best buy ever!]

Not being aware of the storm yesterday and preparing accordingly was not a good plan. Short notice I agree, but it is Hurricane season.

@singlefin

Well, you can't cut thru them with a chainsaw.

You need heavy equipment to move.

I was surprised to see the video of 2 of them down, snapped clean thru at the base. There wasn't that much wind to bring down a 200 mph rated pole.

Reports from a friend on St. John who was near one of the downed poles were that a large tree fell on the support wires that were holding the pole in place and that is what put the pressure on the pole to snap.  I never really thought about not being able to cut through the new pole if they fall.  That would mean it would take a LOT longer to clear the roads if a bunch fell down.  After Irma, my whole road only had 4 poles still somewhat standing.  The other 40 were completely down or snapped somewhere along their length.  

As per The Source today:

One of the territory’s new composite poles, supposed to be capable of withstanding 200 mile per hour winds, was toppled during Hurricane Dorian, but not by wind, and it did not break, Water and Power Authority spokesman Jean Greaux confirmed during a news conference with Gov. Albert Bryan on Friday.

The poles are much more expensive than traditional wooden poles but, with federal permission and funding, WAPA has been installing them territory-wide, in an effort to make the power grid more resilient in the face of increasing numbers of severe storms. WAPA is putting up more than 7,060 such poles and has already put up more than 1,300.

Reports that a pole had gone down on St. John raised concerns about their actual resilience, in light of their higher cost.

“We had a failure of one of the composite poles and we are looking into why that happened,” Greaux said.

Continued from The Source:

He said their preliminary investigation found a large tree came down and toppled the pole.

“It was not impacted by winds and was not broken. It was toppled and the weight of the tree actually brought the structure down,” Greaux said.

The poles have a 40 year warranty, WAPA previously reported.

@singlefin

No Shit! (Excuse the language.)

It boggles my mind that we pay consistently more for failure.

My house on STT, feeder 6A still has no power.

Of course, FL is in a complete melt down mode.

Hi Alana, raining fairly gently but consistently on northside of St. Thomas, no wind to speak of. Power came back on at 10am as WAPA estimated.  

On a side note, the weather is triggering memories and ill feelings tied to experiences during Irma.