USVI Now Under a Hurricane Warning for Jeanne

HC, and all islanders,
Living out here in the desert there's no way I can appreciate what you're going through, other than tornados which infrequently bounce around.

I'll keep you in my prayers and pray there is no damage to life or property.
God Bless,
John

HC
Just think of this as a thunderstorm like we had back in the states that took steroids. It's gonna blow and it's gonna rain. The electricity will probably go off for awhile. If you have your hurricane box all together, you should be in good shape. It's just another excuse to snuggle with your honey. Hang in there.

Thanksd, Ric -- I appreciate that!

My only real nervousness is that the rear quarter of our roof has been jury-rigged in place and that it's a bad enough job that a structural engineer and a contractor have both said that it, and the back gallery that it covers, will be gone with a first big storm. We felt pretty confident it could take the 40-45 mph winds for a period of time, but hearing that the winds are near sixty mph sustained is probably pushing its capacity.

Nah, it's not just that. It's the WAITING. I've lived in a tornado prone area for most of my life, so the kinds of raging. damaging winds and rain I'm used to hit unexpectedly and go away as fast as they came. Having all this advance warning and predictions for times that certain things will occur when such times are really unpredictable are taking some getting used to. Since recent concensus was that St. Croix would be feeling some of the effects by 9 pm and it's now 10 pm with nary a peep occurring, I feel like I've been thrust onto the set of a bad B movie in which one of the characters is obliged to say, It's quiet. Too quiet." How sappily dramatic is that?! *LOL*

We indeed have our hurricane box, cooler with ice, kerosene stove, and the requisite batteries, batteries,batteries -- plus a few rolls of sheeting plastic and mucho duct tape in case the cheesy louvered window that will be replaced in November need some reinforcement to keep the rain out.

Thunderstorm on steroids -- I like that a lot. 🙂

You and Linda hang in there and snuggle the storm away from here -- we'll do the same. I'll see you within a week or so for that Off the Wall dinner, where I can say a proper thank you for all of the support you've provided us.

HC

My thoughts and prayers are with you from Tornado Alley, Kansas. What happens if citizens are ordered to evacuate?/ Where do you go & how?Please keep us updated and let us know you are safe.

Kendra

It's quiet. Too quiet. Think I'll st

To all dear Islanders- I also have you all in my prayers and wondered where do ya'll evacuate to if the need arises? I also wondered if you were familiar with a "poor mans stove"? I live in Tornado alley in Texas and we keep our "PMS" close. Take a one pound empty coffe can, take the cardboard center out of a roll of toilet paper and cram the TP into the can, Then pour a botle of alcohol in slowly until the paper has absorded it all (May take a little over one bottle)- stop pouring when the alcohol starts to pool at the top and whala! The great thing about these are the bottom of the can never gets hot, so you can carry it from room to room as needed for a latern- It puts out alot of light. Also, the alcohol burns clean, so you can actually cook on it (Of course this works better, if using a 3lb coffee can and 3 rolls TP- But this does put out some heat) And best of all, if the can tips over, the flame always goes to the top and there's no spillage- Of course always best to keep it someplace safe. To put out the flame, just snuff it with a plate or board (save the coffee can lid, and once the top of the can has cooled off- put the lid back on to help with evaporation. These things burn for hours and you just have to keep adding alcohol- I've found for prolonged power outages- these are alot cheaper that batteries. Anyway, I guess it's too late for this storm, unless you happen to have those 3 items, but keep it in mind. Once again- Stay safe- I look forward to reading more from each of you!!

I am in the middle of the storm passing thru right now. I expect to lose electricity any moment. So far St. Thomas is doing okay. A lot of rain and wind. I am praying for St. Croix since I know they are getting the brunt of the storm right now. Hope to hear from everyone soon.

Teresa

WAPA cut the power on St. Croix around midnight. I managed to sleep off and on through the night. It's still fairly windy with bands of rain coming through occasionally. A lot of utility poles are down, especially on the east end. A couple of radio towers have fallen. One is blocking a road, preventing the others from being fixed, as I understand it.

As of about noon on Tuesday, we've gotten about 5 inches of rain and may get another 5. It's still risky venturing out with the lines down. Most people are at home. On the plus side, the cisterns have overflowed.

What happends when the islands are under a hurricane warrning? Does everything shut down? Do people still go to work? Are kids in school? Is there anywhere to evacuate to? How do you prepare for a storm like this?
Are these dumb questions? Just curious.

I am moving to St. Thomas Oct. 18th and my family and friends are freaking out bc of the hurricanes and I think they are trying to talk me out of it a little...it's not enough to talk me out of leaving 🙂

Meg

There is a section on this website about preparing for storms. There is no reason to freak out about them. You just prepare.

This has been a pretty heavy tropical storm on St. Croix. As of noon Tuesday, most everything is shut down except for emergency services. The ground is saturated and it's still windy, so more utility poles could go down. The crews repairing the lines right now.

Hooray again for WAPA here on St.Thomas.......knock wood.........continuous power so far.

Absolutely awesome spectacular WAVES!!!!!! California or Hawaii style.....25' feet from the walkway to my front door and my apt....really neat!

11:30pm my landlord put up my hurricane shutters - they had not been, even though the rest of the house was closed up.

Hello Meg,

Yes, everything shuts down. Generally when we are told to secure property folks go to work and secure the office or building and then go home. Schools close. People do not evacuate the island... but if they live in a house they feel is unstable they go to a friends, families or to a shelter. We prepare by stocking up on can goods, water, batteries, flash lights, boarding up windows with wood or hurricane shutters, tying down lose yard chairs, trimming big trees that might fall on the house or cars and then just sit tight.

--Islander

HC,
I know what you mean about the waiting. I cleared all the stuff off of both beaches at the hotel and then came home and got things ready around here. Then there was nothing to do but wait and wait and wait and...
We made it thru the thing in one piece. No damage and no flooding (we live on a big hill). Hope everyone else is ok.

Hi gang,

Am delighted to report that the roof made it! We had minor problems with rain blowing in between the louvers on some of our old windows (no shutters until November), so a lot of the night was spent trying to keep them as tightly sealed as possible. Anything stronger than this and we'll plywood them all over so we don't have to do that again.

We lost a lot of trees and plants. All of our fruit bearing trees are gone -- the papaya tree was snapped into three pieces. Others were split down the center or simply uprooted -- a cactus was torn right out of the ground and flattened.

We didn't get any sleep last night. Who knew wind could be that loud? All of our cats took it very well excpet for one -- our oldest kitty curmudgeon spent the night and most of today behind the washing machine.

Cable went out about 10 minutes before the power cut off, right around 1 am last night. WAPA got us back online about 3:15 this afternoon, and the cable came back a few hours later.

I LOVE MONGOOSE 94.7!! Having that station (simulcast with a few other major radio stations) act as a relay for reporting closings, outages, downed lines and poles, is the most incredible demonstration of the concern everyone shares for each other here in the territory That's the real benefit of the small town way of life that we came here for. I've never felt more a part of a community than I did listening to that broadcast in the early hours of this morning.

We're now getting intermittent squalls, but the rain and wind are nothing compared to last night. Even better is that the calm between these downpours is getting longer and longer as Jeanne moves away from us.

Am happy that I finally have some real experience and have a hint of what to expect should other storms come this way (knock on wood they won't). Gotta say that this one night in a tropical storm increased my respect for the strength and fortitude of those who endured the wrath of Hugo, Marilyn, Andrew, Charley, Gaston, and the others including Ivan. Thinking you know what it's like from watching the weather channel and reading the papers doesn't even touch on the reality of being under a plywood roof as the wind tears at the world around you. Also reminds you to have respect for Mother Nature, too -- she is the one calling the shots.

I want to thank everone who offered support for us, especially for all of us newbies -- learning from you experienced storm survivors that prepartion is the greatest form of comfort and security you can have made this a positive learning experience instead of a nerve-wrecking disaster.

HC

Ric and HC glad to hear that you've survived the storm. I slept better than my husband, but was still up and down all night. I was tickled that the phone and water worked this morning. So, I was able to log into the internet for brief periods to check the weather.

Our power came and went this afternoon and finally came back about six for good......I hope. We had a little water that came through the louvers but nothing to write home about. We helped neighbors to move furniture around and remove some water later this morning.

I'm so glad that we were fairly prepared, ready to eat food, drinks, water, candles and flash lights. I'm sure we'll all sleep well tonight.

Sharon

All -

We fared well on the east end, with wind and rain that was sometimes fun to watch. Checked on our boat yesterday, and it was OK since we had battened it down pretty tight when we got the Hurricane Warning on Monday.

What was with the HW? Jeanne never was more than a TS, and well away from STT. Was it because they expected >75 mph gusts on STX I wonder?

We were surprised by the great thunderstorm last night, and the lingering rain today. It looks like Jeanne is sucking some moisture behind it. Knocked the cable out so we can't watch the Weather Channel - darn!

Get ready for the next one! There is a Tropical Low in the Atlantic at about 12/40, and it looks like it might develop into something.

Good luck and stay safe!

Max

Max,
The hurricane warning was because it was packing 74+ mph gusts as it moved into Puerto Rico and the tail could whip St. Thomas as it went by. We did get some heavy, heavy gusts last night on the north side.

I've been here, as some of you know, for ten years now and found myself sitting in a comfortable chair with a book yesterday and could not get off the weather channel. Sort of like watching a car wreck ...... don't want to look but can't look away. It was as if there was nothing going on in the world but Ivan and Jeanne. (and who sang that stupid song "Jeanne, Jeanne so young and alive" on the news yesterday? It is stuck in my head and won't go away!).

Keep your eye on the horizon as there is still more to come!
Pamela.