Governor Kenneth Mapp announced during his Friday post Hurricane Irma press briefing that the planned September 16 reopening for commercial flights from carriers such as Delta, American and Jetblue at the Cyrile E. King Airport in St. Thomas, was pushed back, as damage to the roof is preventing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from operating its equipment, and repairs to the roof were hampered further by today\u2019s heavy showers.<\/p>\n
Mr. Mapp, along with Dept. of Tourism and Port Authority officials, are hoping for a reopening next week, although no solid date was announced. Even so, local and regional travel, to include Puerto Rico, will be allowed to operate along with chartered flights and the military, the governor said.<\/p>\n
In encouraging news, the governor announced that Washington had approved his request for the federal government to burden all or most of the cost of damage caused by Hurricane Irma. The governor, after being queried by The Consortium about sustaining the government and critical services after such a devastating weather event — even as the government had been barely maintaining liquidity before, and as its main product, tourism, has been damaged by Hurricane Irma — Mr. Mapp said he would apply for provisions under the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act<\/span><\/a>. The governor said his request was approved from part C through G, which makes provision for 90 percent of all permanent repair cost territory-wide to be footed by the federal government, according to the governor.<\/p>\n New York Governor Andrew Cuomo landed on St. Thomas today, where he met with Mr. Mapp and visited some locations walloped by Irma. After seeing the damage firsthand, Mr. Cuomo upped his pledge to include 100 National Guard troops, 30 state troopers, humvees, and a vehicle called a \u2018gator\u2019, which can access areas difficult to reach, the governor said.<\/p>\n Mr. Cuomo also pledged administrative assistance in navigating the local and federal bureaucracies involved with disaster relief accounting and other procedures.<\/p>\n Mr. Mapp mentioned former New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, thanking Mr. Bloomberg for the technical assistance his team has been offering the territory. The U.S.V.I.’s chief executive said the former mayor — whose partner owns a home in St. John that was destroyed by Hurricane Irma — pledged financial support as well, although a dollar amount was not mentioned.<\/p>\n Mr. Mapp said additional Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) agreements were signed with four states: Alabama, New York, Kentucky and Puerto Rico.\u00a0EMAC is a mutual aid agreement between states and territories of the United States. It enables states to share resources during natural and man-made disasters, including terrorism.<\/span><\/p>\n The governor on Thursday announced that Tutu High was being completely evacuated. Today, he announced that the current building would be demolished to make room for structures with codes better suited to withstand hurricanes and similar weather events. “We have to build homes that can withstand hurricanes,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n The cruise line industry, an integral part of the Virgin Islands tourism experience, has pledged 200 self-sustained cottages called home pods, to be distributed to some Hurricane Irma victims (see example below). Mr. Mapp directed the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency’s (V.I.T.E.M.A.) director, Mona Barnes, to seek out the most “distressed” families for the pods.<\/p>\n