37 Percent Of St. Croix, 48 Percent Of St. Thomas And 47 Percent Of St. John Now Restored With Power, WAPA Says. Here’s The Latest Update

The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority in its latest restoration update said that more than 20,500 customers in the territory have been restored, representing 36 percent of St. Croix; 48 percent of St. Thomas and 47 percent of St. John. Additionally, 37 percent of Water Island has been restored, according to the utility. Above, WAPA employee Michael Ettiene works alongside stateside linemen in a Sion Farm neighborhood to restore power.

Service has been restored to additional customers in the following areas on Monday:

• On the west end of St. Thomas from Estate Hope to Bonne Esperance, Santa Maria to the junction of Estate Pearl and Crown Mountain, Crown and Hawk, upper Lindbergh Bay, the Plantation Manor condos, Estate Contant, Contant Knolls housing community and the area behind the Subbase tennis courts, Sorgenfri, West Caret Bay, Bolongo Bay, top of Donkey Hill and New Tutu. On Monday, service was also restored to some customers from Cabrita Point to Secret Harbor and in Old Tutu.
•  On St. John, most customers in Cruz Bay have been reenergized, as well as portions of Gifft Hill, Fish Bay, Pastory, Great Cruz Bay, additional residences at George Simmonds Terrace, Luxburg and Grunwald. Additionally, crews continue to work in Coral Bay.
• On St. Croix, Estate White Lady, Sion Farm and La Grande Princesse. Crews continue restoration work in William’s Delight, Mahogany Welcome, Estate Whim, La Grande Princesse, Rattan, Mary’s Fancy, Contentment, Sion Farm and Sion Hill. Some customers in these areas have already been restored.

On Monday, WAPA published a restoration schedule for the next two weeks detailing areas where crews will be restoring service. WAPA remains committed to its previously stated goal of restoring 90% of all areas in the territory by December 25.

WAPA reminds customers that homes with temporary roofs (blue roofs) will be restored with electrical service once a licensed electrician has certified, in writing, that the structure is safe to energize.

If work needs to be done to repair a damaged meter base and/or weather head, customers must call the Emergency Call Center at 340-774-1424 on St. Thomas-St. John or 340-773-0150 on St. Croix. The call centers operate seven days a week, 9 am – 5 pm.

If your electric meter was removed by WAPA personnel to facilitate repairs to either a meter base and/or weather head, once repairs are completed and a licensed electrician certifies the work in writing, customers are required to noitfy the Customer Service office. All fees usually associated with meter removal and reconnection have been waived during this restoration period. Customer service offices operate Monday-Friday, 9 am – 4 pm at Sunny Isle on St. Croix and Port of Sale Mall on St. Thomas.

Reconstruction, restoration and hurricane debris removal crews are deployed across the islands. Motorists are asked to exercise caution when driving through the work areas and to heed the directions of flaggers and VIPD officers who are assisting with traffic control.

WAPA urges residents to shut off standby generators when line crews are in your neighborhood restoring electrical service. A standby generator has the potential to back feed electricity to the grid which poses a severe safety risk to restoration crews.

POTABLE WATER SYSTEM

• There are six days of emergency water storage on St. John, eight 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

• WAPA telephone contact: St. Thomas – St. John district, 340-774-3552; St. Croix district, 340-773-2250
• Customer Service Offices operate Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Sunny Isle on St. Croix and at Port of Sale Mall on St. Thomas.
• The latest information on the restoration effort is available on the WAPA website, www.viwapa.vi and on Facebook: Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority.