Things are looking up a bit in the USVI.
Tuesday, some public schools reopened, with more to follow:
www.virginislandsdailynews.com/…
viconsortium.com/...
Education Commissioner Sharon McCollum describes her plans:
[S]ome schools are being closed, others consolidated, and tents and “pop-up” buildings are being brought in to help house students whose schools were condemned.
“It’s not going to be perfect, the schools will be on generator. The Army Corps of Engineers have been dropping in the generators since Wednesday, they’re still installing generators,” McCollum said.
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“The community will see the schools being lit up, and I think that is an unstated message to the community that we’re coming back online and we are ready,” she said.
Yes, it will be cold lunches instead of hot lunches. But roads are open, so school buses can travel to the schools. But it looks like the kids' education is on track.
The calendar for the school year will run long to ensure students get the full 1,080 hours of required instruction, and will mean a “short summer vacation,” McCollum said.
However, Christmas vacation will remain intact so families can take a break together and celebrate.
The department also is looking to hold mandatory, federally funded Saturday half-day classes for seniors to ensure they’re on schedule to graduate and apply to colleges, she said
It is worth mentioning that food ships were delayed by hurricane Nate.
A Massachusetts company has been reestablishing cellphone service, both in St. John, USVI and Vieques, PR
www.bostonglobe.com/…
Vanu is planning to provide service to 17 sites in isolated parts of mainland Puerto Rico.
Power is mostly out, but help is arriving today.
265 Linemen and Their Equipment Arrive in USVI Oct. 12th
viconsortium.com/…
Governor Kenneth Mapp said on Tuesday night that the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority would welcome 265 linemen along with their equipment to the U.S. Virgin Islands on Thursday. The linemen, once here, will start work territory-wide the following day, the governor added, noting the development as a major step in the territory’s power restoration effort.
The article contains the current status details of power and water restoration in the USVI.
Why did it take so long for the utility crews to arrive? They brought their own trucks.
www.theday.com/…
They left from places like Groton, CT; Norwich, CT and Taunton, MA.
They drove to Fort Lauderdale, FL, to meet a barge, which is arriving a day later than expected, probably due to having to change course to avoid hurricane Nate.
Why are they going to USVI and not Puerto Rico? One can speculate.
First, Hurricane Irma, which hit USVI, preceeded Hurricane Mariah, so the USVI destination was set up first. It is not that easy to hire a ship to transport 264 linemen and their trucks.
Secondly, both the government of USVI and the line crews themselves know exactly how to restore power to a devasted island. They learned in Hurricane Hugo.
Jeff Lyon of Groton helped restore power in the Caribbean after Hurricane Hugo in 1989, so he has an idea of what he might walk into when he and a crew from Groton Utilities reach the Virgin Islands next week.
“I got down there, there were no roofs on houses, no water, the restaurants were all closed down, you couldn’t get any food,” said Lyon, describing St. Croix after Hugo.
Nevertheless, the 56-year-old lineman volunteered, along with two other linemen and a manager from GU, to travel to St. Thomas to help restore electrical services.
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And because the island electric grid was fixed in 1989, it likely is newer and easier to repair than Puerto Rico's.
Thirdly, I am sorry, to say, USVI seems to have figured out how to finance all this early on, where Puerto Rico perhaps, has not?
The cost will be covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the island. The New England Public Power Association will bill the island for the work, and FEMA will reimburse the island for about 90 percent of the cost, Surprenant said
and no, @realDonaldTrump, they will not stay forever in USVI:
The group will stay on the island for about three weeks, then another GU crew will take over, with groups rotating every few weeks through at least the middle of November, said Randall Surprenant, manager of operations for GU. The linemen will sleep on a cargo ship during the work, he said
Another thing the USVI has going for them? It probably cannot hurt that Governor Kenneth Mapp is a registered Republican, although he ran as an Independent
www.redirectify.com/...