As soon as curfew was up, residents emerged from their houses on St. Thomas Tuesday morning only to find that many of the roads, at least in the more densely vegetated areas, were rendered impassible by fallen trees.
Plant life throughout the island appeared to have taken the hardest hit, with little apparent damage to buildings. Callers in to the early morning talk shows reported no casualties, only dented cars and other loose yard items covered by the felled foliage.
Roads were slick with leaves as crews worked to clean debris, but in many places, such as the road leading to Magens Bay Beach, too many were uprooted for people to pass.
Magens Bay Authority members, led by a machete -wielding Hubert Bromant, were out early, cutting branches to make them more easy to move.
Bromant said everything looks fine on the popular tourist beach — just some cleanup needed with trees and roadways. But he did advise residents not to go swimming as yet, until the water is tested.
The biggest complaint throughout the island appeared to be a lack of power, but by mid-afternoon, several pockets were already up and running. Downed power lines were a common site, particularly on the north side of the island, which is said to be the hardest hit.
V.I. Water and Power Authority officials were optimistic about repairing Monday’s damage, saying that line crews were out at the crack of dawn putting up all the main feeders and repairing the "laterals."
"As they go along, they’re plugging back in fuses, transformers — they’ve been working since sunrise and will be working until late this evening, then will start again tomorrow," WAPA spokeswoman Cassandra Dunn said around mid-morning.
Dunn said a few areas might take more than one day to fix because of more specific problems, such as blown transformers or downed lines.
Residents are still being urged to call in reports to the WAPA hotline at 777-WAPA on St. Thomas-St. John and 713-WAPA on St. Croix.