CHRISTIANSTED — Today is the last day of the highly active, deadly and destructive 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, but Virgin Islanders will feel its impact for years.
Politicians are still scrambling to determine how much of the next territorial budget will be dedicated to covering losses that may or may not be paid by the federal government.
The massive hit from Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused direct physical and emotional impact in the territory, and the tax base is likely to be depleted as thousands of people flee the storm devastation and still others — such as 183 hospital staff territory-wide — are laid off.
The Virgin Islands Legislature is also looking at sanctioning debris-removal burns by FEMA/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as well as changes dealing with related issues such as whether to burn or mulch the accumulated storm vegetation.
Gov. Kenneth Mapp, who was mostly invisible face before the storms struck, was forced to go to work by Irma and Maria and after the hurricanes held nearly nightly updates at Government House that were broadcast over the radio instituting a curfew for people who live here and then telling us when we can run our generators.
Cruise ships began returning to St. Thomas near the end of October and the territory stands to get its fair share of floating palace visits despite the shaggy look of the islands in the storm’s aftermath.
Two months and ten days after Hurricane Maria, the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) says just 40 percent of the territory is connected to electricity.
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