Breaking

Additional equipment and supplies arrived on St. Thomas Thursday, ahead of 250 linemen and engineers who are expected in the territory on Friday. Service trucks, digger derricks, trailers and other equipment were offloaded at the WICO dock before the supply vessel headed to St. Croix with equipment and supplies for the restoration effort there.
Reconstruction and restoration work continued in both districts by WAPA line department crews as well as by on and off-island contractors. On St. Croix, on Feeder 4A, crews planted poles along the feeder path while additional customers were restored in Christiansted on Feeder 1A. In Hannah’s Rest, crews continued the reconstruction of primary circuits and will string lines and install transformers on Friday. Additional poles were planted as efforts continue to energize the modular units at Luis Hospital. Poles were planted and lines were installed along Feeder 5A in Estate Strawberry and in Frederiksted, contractors planted additional poles while other crews framed poles on Good Hope Road.
On St. Thomas, crews continued work on Feeder 6A from Blackpoint Hill toward Fortuna planting poles and installing primary circuits. Work is progressing steadily in areas including Estates Santa Maria, Pearl and from Clearview Apartments to near the Crown & Hawk intersection. There was also work completed on the buildout of Feeders 7A and 8A from the Harley power plant. Crews restored service to customers in Estate Tutu while other crews reconstructed circuits on Donoe road and in Red Hook toward Smith Bay. Additional customers in Lindbergh Bay had service restored as well as residents in Altona, Mahogany Estate and Agnes Fancy.
On St. John, the submarine cable has been energized to the electrical substation with efforts continuing to energize portions of Cruz Bay this week.
On Friday, WAPA crews will continue restoration work in the following areas of St. Croix: Estates William’s Delight, Whim and Carlton, as well as in the downtown Christiansted area. On St. Thomas, crews will work in areas including the Subbase roadway near Bryan’s Electric, Donoe Road, Nadir bridge intersection, Tabor and Harmony roadway from the Mandahl to Hidden Valley intersections, the Crown and Hawk intersection to Estate Pearl, Lindbergh Bay, and on the Smith Bay road. Motorists are urged to follow the directions of roadside flaggers, military police and VIPD officers who are assisting with traffic control.
WAPA reminds residents that it is necessary to shut off standby generators when line crews are in your neighborhood restoring electrical service. Standby generators have the potential to back feed electricity to the grid which poses a severe safety risk to restoration crews.
WAPA personnel has removed electrical meters at locations where damage was apparent to either an electrical meter base and/or weather head. Home and business owners are advised to make repairs to their damaged weather heads and/or meter bases as soon as possible. Once crews have reached your neighborhood, those customers who have not had their weather head or meter base repaired, will not have service immediately restored.

POTABLE WATER SYSTEM

WAPA reminds the public that a precautionary boil water notice for potable water customers is in place territory-wide. Due to a drop in water pressure, as a precaution, we advise that all water used for drinking, cooking, making infant formula or juices, making ice, brushing teeth, washing fruits or vegetables and washing dishes, be boiled. Bringing water to a rolling boil and maintaining for one full minute is sufficient. Water must be adequately cooled before it can be used and should be stored in clean, covered containers. As an alternative, bottled water certified for sale by the Department of Health may be used.
There are seven days of emergency water storage on St. John, ten days on St. Thomas and five days on St. Croix.
WAPA urges clean-up contractors and homeowners in both districts to exercise caution when piling debris on and around potable water meters. There are a growing number of instances where water meters are being damaged by clean-up equipment grading debris and causing damage to the roadside water meters. The continued damage by heavy equipment poses difficulty in maintaining or restoring potable water service to customers.

OTHER INFORMATION

Emergency Call Centers operate 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., seven days a week.
St. Thomas – St. John district, 340-774-1424; St. Croix district, 340-773-0150
WAPA telephone contact: St. Thomas – St. John district, 340-774-3552; St. Croix district, 340-773-2250
Customer Service Offices operate Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Sunny Isle on St. Croix and at Port of Sale Mall on St. Thomas
WAPA website: www.viwapa.vi