Hurricane damage?

I can find all kinds of pics and info of damage in St. Martin, but can't find anything about St. Thomas. Does anyone know? Hoping Hurricane Jose turns away.

I was looking as well. I found a FB page where people were searching for family members, loved ones, and asking about damage to specific properties. A couple of people were posting current photos and while the island wasn't completely decimated like Barbuda or St Martin, there seemed to be a good amount of damage.

Thanks for starting this thread. I was wondering where the love and concern for the islands and residents of St. Thomas and St. John was. There is often posts from residents of St. Thomas on this board. I hope they are all safe. Communication is very sketchy still from St. Maarten and perhaps from these USVI's as well. I didn't hear much before the storm about St. Thomas being in the direct path but have seen some reports of severe damage in areas on both of these USVI's. Such an awful hurricane and it's not done yet. :(

Edited September 9, 2017 by Karysa

I would suspect that many have lost electricity.

 

Sending positive thoughts and prayers.

 

Keith

I found a video from a helicopter flying all over St Thomas. Parts did really well, but you can see where the storm really hit. I've never been to St Thomas, so maybe someone can explain. It's on Royal Carribean forum under Hurricane Irma Watch page 58. Posted by Ocean Boy #1154

From reading other forums, including the St Thomas forum on very popular site that advises people taking trips - the only phone services is spotty Verizon, all other carriers are out. So not much communication getting out. They have evacuated the hospital to the Ritz. The airport was damaged, and may be a month before its operating again. Haven't heard anything about the port, but a lot of the marinas took a long of damage.

 

The USVI have set up this website to track info: http://www.usviupdate.com/

Thanks Getting Out There for the information about the video. Here is the link for anyone who is interested. https://videopress.com/v/kjHPP3lg

NCL Eastern Caribbean cruises will be switched to a Western Caribbean itinerary through at least November. I know that the affected islands will suffer from the lack of tourism, but I suppose they also need the time to rebuild. Not sure what the best option is.

 

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Thanks Getting Out There for the information about the video. Here is the link for anyone who is interested. https://videopress.com/v/kjHPP3lg

I saw this video on YouTube earlier and it broke my heart. This was a USCG helicopter fly-over through different areas. Most are the interior, mountainous parts of St. Thomas but for us cruisers there are two points of "interest". At the 0:12 mark you can see part of the street that take you into Charlotte Amalie from the Heavensight area. At 0:14 is the Fort Christian parking lot, followed by the fort itself (red building coming into frame from the left). Just left of the building is where all those blue tarps with vendors set up and part of the waterfront follows. More shocking (at leats to those that have been there) will be the visuals at 1:07 mark. That's whats left of Sapphire beach. The building with the torn up roof and bright blue paint is the dive shop, and beach bar n' grill area. See pic below....

 

 

 

It's awful what not only St. Thomas but St. John, St. Martin, Anguila, and Barbuda have gone through.Add to this the destruction on the Cayman islands, Cuba and the imminent toll it'll take on Florida. Yes, it hit us here in Puerto Rico. but compared to most other places, we came out with just a scratch...literally!!

 

Edit: Just found and "After" Pic....Horrible!

 

The condo buildings at Sapphire came through in good shape but the grounds were damaged

I think it will be a long time before ships will be visiting St Thomas much of the island was devastated There is no power and power lines are down all over the island. It will take a lot of time to repair

I saw this video on YouTube earlier and it broke my heart. This was a USCG helicopter fly-over through different areas. Most are the interior, mountainous parts of St. Thomas but for us cruisers there are two points of "interest". At the 0:12 mark you can see part of the street that take you into Charlotte Amalie from the Heavensight area. At 0:14 is the Fort Christian parking lot, followed by the fort itself (red building coming into frame from the left). Just left of the building is where all those blue tarps with vendors set up and part of the waterfront follows. More shocking (at leats to those that have been there) will be the visuals at 1:07 mark. That's whats left of Sapphire beach. The building with the torn up roof and bright blue paint is the dive shop, and beach bar n' grill area. See pic below....

 

 

 

It's awful what not only St. Thomas but St. John, St. Martin, Anguila, and Barbuda have gone through.Add to this the destruction on the Cayman islands, Cuba and the imminent toll it'll take on Florida. Yes, it hit us here in Puerto Rico. but compared to most other places, we came out with just a scratch...literally!!

 

Edit: Just found and "After" Pic....Horrible!

 

 

We went to Sapphire Beach the last two times we were in St. Thomas on a cruise ship. We love this beach and there is decent snorkeling there. We currently have airline tickets for next May to St. Thomas. We haven't decided what to do yet. I think we are going to wait until February and decide what to do. Luckily, we hadn't booked our accommodations yet. I am heartbroken and sending prayers for all the people affected by this terrible tragedy.

We went to Sapphire Beach the last two times we were in St. Thomas on a cruise ship. We love this beach and there is decent snorkeling there. We currently have airline tickets for next May to St. Thomas. We haven't decided what to do yet. I think we are going to wait until February and decide what to do. Luckily, we hadn't booked our accommodations yet. I am heartbroken and sending prayers for all the people affected by this terrible tragedy.

 

I would be honestly shocked if St. Thomas wasn't close to 100% operational by May.

There is absolutely no way the VI will be 100%operational by May. It will hopefully be operational but it will take years to get back to where it was

There is absolutely no way the VI will be 100%operational by May. It will hopefully be operational but it will take years to get back to where it was

 

Buildings will need repair still and their will be consistent fixings going on . . . But the absolute need to pump tourism dollars into that economy to reach those goals will have almost everybody up and running by that time.

 

To me that is close to 100% operational, even if the island isn't back all the way from an infrastructure standpoint.

 

Hell vendors will want to be up by Christmas as that is when that critical 6 month period starts.

Kdawg

I don't think you have a good grip on the devastation that took place. The homes of the residents including the vendors are gone in many cases. Completely gone. Nothing left but rubble

People have no power, no water, no food, no clothing, no toilets, no money (Banks are destroyed), no inventory, nothing

The island will strive to recover as quickly as possible but think of the logistics. To restore power you need new utility poles. Every island hit by the storm will need new poles. Utility poles will be in short supply and have to be shipped in and that's just a small part

 

100% operational??? Absolutely not but somewhat operational maybe

Bill you are right on. I'm seeing in many forums people thinking that once the immediate relief effort is finished (that will be a long-term effort for sure) and the island is trying to rebuild their tourism dollars are what is needed to prop up the economy. They just don't understand the total devastation that has taken place in these islands. People are dead and missing, boats are wiped out, homes are gone, and power may be out in many areas for 5 - 6 months. Relief supplies as well as materials and tools for rebuild are probably delayed even more with PR hit, and in many areas there is no water and no garbage removal and no police security.

I've also been following the situation closely in the BVI and it is just horrible what people are still going through. Roads are still blocked and the infrastructure was simply wiped out. It's just a terrible situation. Some islands were hit less hard and will be able to handle tourism sooner. But the VI and BVI took a serious hit, and In the meantime support the people there by donating to the relief efforts.

I don't mean to sound insensitive, but as a cruiser, my concern while on vacation is primarily the "port areas".

 

There is no question that on the more rural part of these islands where many of the locals reside their lives will forever be changed and it will take years for them to recover, assuming next hurricane season, or even the current one, doesn't set them back further. It really is a sad situation all around and I don't mean to downplay that by saying they will be up and running.

 

But these tour operators, these hotels that offer day passes, the port area, the restaurants, the shops . . . all that stuff that attract 95% of cruisers and visitors to the St. Thomas VI area . . . it is essential for them to be up as soon as possible so they can get that steady flow of cash into their economy and bring back to their families so they can rebuild and attempt to get their lives together. This won't be some year long process at all. These areas are focal points to get up and running as soon as possible and while parts of the island will most certainly look like devastation, even in May when I cruise . . . what the average cruiser is likely to see is a pretty normal operation, except for some infrastructure issues that are lingering. Obviously maybe the tour that takes you into the heart of one of the villages and eat in a typical VI home may not be available . . . but the typical Shops, Sightseeing, Beach type of tour, day passes, etc will certainly be up and be pretty normal.

 

It's like the news media saying that Puerto Rico will be out of power for up to 6 months . . . what they aren't telling you is that pretty much all of San Juan has power and the airport and cruise port both plan on opening this week. Come December the hustle and bustle will be strong as they hit the most important part of the year for their economy.

 

I've had contact with all of my tour operators for my May cruise, Saint Maarten, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Barbados, St. Lucia, San Juan . . . all of them are overwhelmingly optimistic that things will be perfectly fine by then. The only island I did not talk to about my tour was Dominica because I know just how bad they took it and I reached out and donated to their cause because that place will forever be changed and they need all the help they can get. That conversation will happen down the road, but its not one that I wanted to start to even think about.

 

All I'm saying is, island people are extremely resilient people, and they absolutely took a devastating blow with those back to back hurricanes but if you "really" want to help them, even more than "donating" to relief efforts, don't cancel your upcoming cruises to the areas and don't change your plans on the islands because of a perception that you or even the news media tells you. Yes its bad and yes its sad, but they will overcome all of it. I guarantee you the great time you thought you were gonna have before those hurricanes will be every bit as good after them.

For those who believe that only the media is claiming Puerto Rico will be with without power for 6 months and that nearly all of San Juan has power, I would encourage you to watch an interview Rachel Maddow had with Carmen Yulin Cruz this evening. Carmen is the mayor of San Juan. She stated it will take 6 months to restore power to the island, San Juan does NOT have power, but some people have generators, for which they are running out of diesal. The mayor stated 2 people died in hospitals today as a result of having no power and no fuel for their generator. The mayor was pleading for humanitarian assistance, specifically diesal, fuel, running water, and it was clear that tourists are the last thing PR needs right now. Rachel Maddow said she would post the interview to her website. This has nothing to do with politics, simply providing the mayor an opportunity to explain the dire situation they are in throught PR, including San Juan. Please no verbal assaults to my post, I am only sharing the information because it is an interview with the mayor so no better source. Love and prayers to all in PR, and those of you with loved ones in PR.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/BUSINESS-COMMUNITY-OPTIMISTIC-ABOUT-USVI-RECOVERY-AND-GOVERNMENT-RESPONSE.html?soid=1123676605165&aid=ltEyEeRHo2A

On St. Martin site there's a post they're opening Nov. 5 for the 1st cruise. I heard St. Thomas was supposed to open sometime this mo. Anyone hear anything?

St Thomas is hoping to bring a ship in by November. There are some beaches that are fine while a few others had major damage from fallen trees and debris. It looks like Paradise Point wasn't damaged, and Coral World is mostly OK. Lots of restaurants are open.

St Thomas is hoping to bring a ship in by November. There are some beaches that are fine while a few others had major damage from fallen trees and debris. It looks like Paradise Point wasn't damaged, and Coral World is mostly OK. Lots of restaurants are open.

 

 

 

Based on this Facebook post, there’s no timeline for when Coral World will reopen again.

 

https://m.facebook.com/?_rdr#!/story.php?story_fbid=10155651258987092&id=18852557091

Just read a RC email- St Thomas and San Juan are expected to be up and running by the beginning of 2018! We must do all we can as tourists to get their economies going again- at least that"s my excuse!

St Thomas is hoping to bring a ship in by November. There are some beaches that are fine while a few others had major damage from fallen trees and debris. It looks like Paradise Point wasn't damaged, and Coral World is mostly OK. Lots of restaurants are open.

 

Do you live on St. Thomas? We are on the Celebrity Summit and scheduled to port in St. Thomas on November 3 and was wondering if you could tell me which beaches are ok to visit?

MS411 it's great to hear from you!