WAPA Ready To Receive ‘Major’ Shipment Of Supplies From Shipping Ports In Preparation Of Massive Restoration Push; Latest Updates Announced

Here’s the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority’s latest power and potable restoration update post-Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

ELECTRIC SYSTEM

• Emergency call centers on St. Thomas & St. Croix will go live on Wednesday. The centers will operate from 7 a.m. – 11 p.m., seven days a week. The call centers are the primary means by which customers can advise the Authority of isolated service interruptions once crews have begun restoration work in various neighborhoods and communities.  To contact the Emergency Call Center on St. Croix, call 340-773-0150, and on St. Thomas – St. John the call center’s telephone number is 340-774-1424. The activation of the call centers was delayed due to telecommunications challenges.
• WAPA announces limited hours of operation at the St. Croix Customer Services office at Sunny Isle. The office will be open each weekday day from 12 noon – 3:30 pm. These hours may be adjusted based on the curfew. Customer service hours on St. Thomas and St. John are suspended pending a relocation of offices. The Four Winds Plaza location on St. Thomas was heavily damaged by the hurricanes.
• WAPA is finalizing the mobilization for 240 linemen from the United States to assist in the restoration efforts. The additional manpower and equipment will be arriving on island over the next few days.
• WAPA is expected to take inventory and stage a major movement of supplies from the shipping port to our storage facilities and to some work areas this week. This shipment includes additional poles, cable and other equipment.
• WAPA continues to work jointly with Viya, the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority, and the Department of Public Works on a clean-up initiative across the territory.
•  Work continued on St. Croix Tuesday to re-energize customers in downtown Christiansted, and Frederiksted from the Midland substation to the Paul E. Joseph Stadium.   In addition, the hangar and FAA control tower at Rohlsen airport has been energized. Crews also planted new poles for lines going into the Hannah’s Rest community. Clean up crews made significant progress on the roadways leading to both the Central High School campus and the John H. Woodson, Jr. High School.
•  On St. Thomas, the crews are working on the “A” Feeders: 6A, 7A, 8A and 9A. Work will also continue through the end of the week to restore electrical service to the Superior Court, VI Police Callwood Command and the Bureau of Corrections at the Farrelly Justice Center. Crews also energized Third, Eighth and Ninth Streets in Sugar Estate while clean-up crews were on Second Street. Feeder 6A was partially energized as was parts of Contant Towers. Additional buildings in the Harris Court housing community were also energized Tuesday, more should be fully restored this week.

POTABLE WATER SYSTEM

•  We are building additional storage on all three islands slowly. St. John has four days of emergency storage, St. Thomas three days, and St. Croix three days.
• The Concordia potable water pump station on St. Croix is on line.  Overnight, the Kingshill tank should begin to build storage and the west end of the island should begin to receive potable water service.