The day after Tropical Storm Ernesto passed over the territory, BVI Electricity Corporation General Manager Dr. Neil Smith told ZBVI Radio that he expected power to be restored by last weekend.
But for many residents, that didn’t happen. As the BVIEC navigated fires, staff shortages and other challenges, electricity outages and internet cuts continued to plague much of the territory. Some residents still didn’t have power yesterday afternoon as the Beacon went to press.
The issue — which led in turn to other problems including public water lock-offs — was among the worst effects of the storm, which grew into a hurricane shortly after it passed over the territory on Aug. 13 and 14.
Janet Parsons, a resident for more than 40 years, said she knows that BVIEC technicians have been “working their socks off,” but she is concerned about Ernesto’s outsize effects on the territory.
“Considering it was only a tropical storm, it’s now been a week and we still don’t have power,” Ms. Parsons said Tuesday about her residence in Greenbank.

BVIEC’s challenges
Dr. Smith did not grant the Beacon an interview this week despite repeated requests, but he told ZBVI last Thursday that the BVIEC was facing various hindrances as it worked to recover.
“I guess it’s fairly clear now that this hurricane, Ernesto, was a bit more of a severe storm … than we anticipated,” he said at the time. “We’re doing as best as we could to restore the entire island as soon as possible. There’s a lot of areas that has been restored, but still quite a bit more [to be repaired].”
Compounding the challenges, he said, were electrical fires that began to spring up as the BVIEC worked.
“We’ve had to have quite a few fires where there was what we call ‘leakage’ between electrical lines and the wooden poles,” Dr. Smith told ZBVI. “Most oftentimes, we have to call the fire service to put out those fires, and then we make repairs.”
In some instances, the general manager said, fire damaged poles beyond repair.

Staffing
At the time of the storm, he added, three BVIEC linemen were in St. Vincent and the Grenadines helping with damage caused last month by Hurricane Beryl.
“Whenever our sister islands get in trouble, we help, and they would send assistance here as well,” Dr. Smith told ZBVI. “We’ve had offers for assistance for us as well, but logistically it doesn’t make sense because we suspect that everything will back up by this weekend.”
Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer told the Beacon on Monday that the linemen made it back to the VI within 48 hours after Ernesto.

Traffic delays
Mr. Rymer also attributed some of the restoration delays to BVIEC crews having to work around traffic in the hours after the storm.
“Once the storm passed, there were quite a lot of interference with cars and people,” Mr. Rymer explained, citing a BVIEC report he received. “So that’s why they were asking persons to try to stay off the roads.”
Also problematic was the corporation’s “reporting mechanism,” he said.
“[The BVIEC] admitted that there were some challenges when persons were calling to report the faults, that they were not being able to have them recorded properly,” Mr. Rymer said.
Another problem was heavy rain in the weeks before Ernesto, which resulted in unusually fast foliage growth that strained the BVIEC’s ability to keep the territory’s energy grid weather-resistant, according to the minister.
“That has been a challenge with the new rain phenomenon that we are seeing, especially for this year,” the minister said. “We’ve seen an overgrowth of our trees and our shrubs.”
Mr. Rymer added that he had spoken to Dr. Smith, who told him the BVIEC plans to increase its preparedness for future storms.
“In speaking with the GM, [the BVIEC] would revamp their programme to do more cutting around the [lines],” Mr. Rymer said. “I think that is something that was recognised.”
Despite the challenges, the territory’s utilities were mostly restored to full operational capacity by Monday, the minister said that day.
“[There] are some isolated areas where some transformers are blown,” Mr. Rymer said. “But I think [the territory] is about 80 to 90 percent up and running.”
Cyber attack
Even as the BVIEC worked to restore power across the territory, it got hit with another problem.
Shortly before midday Monday, the utility announced in its WhatsApp channel that it had been the victim of a cyberattack.
“This unfortunate event has affected our internal and external operations,” the notice stated. “The BVIEC has partnered with third parties including subject experts and law enforcement in the BVI and the United Kingdom in a focused effort to return to normal operations as soon as possible.”
The utility, which asked customers to pay their bills in person, has not provided an update on the attack since then.

105 mph gusts
Other information released this week by the Department of Disaster Management could also help explain the damage to power lines and tree limbs during Ernesto. Wind gusts as strong as 105 miles per hour blew through Balsam Ghut on Tortola, while Anegada saw 59.6 mph and Virgin Gorda was spared with less than 30 mph, according to DDM.
With less winds came more rain, however, as VG experienced eight inches of rainfall, the highest in the territory.
The storm also washed out roads, including causing a landslide undercutting the roadway in the Harrigan and Threlfall area.
Sister islands
Mr. Rymer said Monday that the sister islands didn’t report any major damage.
But in Jost Van Dyke’s Great Harbour, a few vessels washed up into the rocks and sand, including one of the ferries that transports people between JVD and Tortola. Foxy’s Tamarind Bar posted photos to Facebook, showing the boats listing in shallow water or leaning on one another.
Despite such issues, Mr. Rymer said the territory as a whole fared reasonably well in the storm.
“I think we all did good enough,” he said.
Injuries
Meanwhile, BVI Health Services Authority facilities in the territory treated eight people for injuries sustained on Aug. 13 and 14, the days the storm passed overhead, according to the authority.
One man’s fingertip was amputated due to a dog bite that occurred when he tried to rescue the animal.
Another man’s toe was amputated after a door slammed on his foot during the storm. Other injuries — including dislocated fingers and severe back pain — were related to falls while cleaning up after Ernesto passed.
Another man accidentally ingested diesel while siphoning fuel, and a woman was bitten by a cat during an attempted rescue, according to the BVIHSA.

HMS Trent
As the VI worked to recover from the storm in recent days, residents got help from the Royal Engineers and Royal Marines from the Royal Navy patrol vessel HMS Trent, which docked at the cruise pier last Thursday.
The captain made a courtesy call to Governor Daniel Pruce, and the crew took part in various recovery operations, including helping to clean ghuts and meeting with DDM and other front-line responders. The ship departed on Monday.

Height of storm season
As the territory recovers from Ernesto, officials warned that the busiest part of hurricane season is fast approaching.
“We are looking at what other corrective actions, or what changes, we could implement going in, getting ourselves more prepared,” DDM Director Jasen Penn told the Beacon on Monday. “The season is moving into the most critical part, which is September.”