Virgin Islands hit hard
Buildings destroyed, trees toppled and cars smashed as Virgin Islands take brunt of hurricane
Massive damage in the Caribbean
Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful storms recorded in the Atlantic, ravaged parts of the U.S. Virgin Islands, tearing off roofs and crippling the only hospital on St. Thomas.
“St. Thomas and St. John are pretty devastated,” Rep. Stacey Plaskett, the Virgin Islands’ delegate to Congress, told USA TODAY. “We’ve had houses slamming into other houses.”
Irma’s fierce winds ripped off the roof of the Roy Schneider Medical Center on St. Thomas, and authorities worked Thursday to evacuate patients to the island of St. Croix via helicopter, Plaskett said.
No fatalities had been reported, but Plaskett said officials still were assessing damage.
The islands’ 911 emergency system was down, she said, and rough seas and damage to St. Thomas’ airport complicated recovery efforts.
Officials worked to clear the runway of debris.
“We are islands,” she said. “There are not just trucks that can roll in to help us.”
Thursday afternoon, President Trump approved a disaster declaration for the territory, a step designed to speed federal aid to St. Thomas and St. John.
Residents who had Internet access took to social media to report lashing winds as the storm spun over St. Thomas and left a wrecked landscape of twisted galvanized roofing, smashed cars and toppled trees.
These islands, a tourist mecca often called America’s Paradise, have been hit by powerful hurricanes before, most notably Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and Hurricane Marilyn in 1995.
“Irma made Hurricanes Hugo and Marilyn look like a passing shower,” Steve Rockstein, a photographer and documentary filmmaker who lives on St. Thomas, told USA TODAY on Thursday via Facebook.
“This was ominous throughout, but when the eye wall hit, it was absolutely terrifying,” he said.
Relatives of Virgin Islanders took to Facebook, including the group USVI Hurricane Irma Alert, seeking updates on family members.
St. Croix, the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, lies roughly 40 miles south of St. Thomas and took far less damage, although residents reported downed trees and power outages.
Irma’s winds and rain left a path of destruction throughout the islands of the Caribbean. The Associated Press reported that British Foreign Minister Alan Duncan said Anguilla, one of the United Kingdom’s island territories, took the full brunt of Irma and the British Virgin Islands had “severe damage.”
Tiny Barbuda, which has a population of roughly 1,400, was “literally rubble” after the storm, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne told ABS TV/Radio Antigua.
Plaskett said most of the U.S. Virgin Islands’ structures met building codes for hurricanes, but “the strength of this storm was such that they did not withstand.”
Plaskett said the U.S. military and the Federal Emergency Management Agency made early preparations, shipping water, tarpaulins and medical supplies to the territory before the storm.
U.S. Navy vessels, which had been pre-positioned off Cuba, were headed to the territory, she said.
Plaskett said it probably will take years for St. Thomas to rebuild.
The storm “is devastating to our economy,” she said.
“Our hotels have been damaged,” Plaskett said. “Getting those back up and running and in a position where people will want to come and be tourists there will take some time.”