When Dean Greenaway walked through Road Town on Sunday photographing the carnage wrought by Hurricane Irma, passersby wanted to touch him.
“You’re alive!” a woman yelled through the broken window of her dented Jeep Wrangler. “Come here!”
In the days since the catastrophic storm, a rumour had circulated widely that Mr. Greenaway — a coach, photographer and reporter known as “The Sportsman” — was dead. In some versions, his house had collapsed around him; in others he was swept off his roof as he tried to photograph the hurricane.
But he didn’t have a scratch.
Nonetheless, leaders have been painting a picture of a territory where order has been restored and the recovery process has begun in earnest as aid arrives from abroad to alleviate the most pressing concerns such as food, water and security.
“I’ve only actually been governor of the territory for three weeks, but in that short time I’ve been hugely impressed with how resilient the people of the BVI communities are,” Governor Gus Jaspert told JTV News in the United Kingdom late Saturday afternoon. “They’re continuing to help each other during this time … and we are starting to get relief efforts going.”
As of Monday at noon, the official death toll was five, but that number is expected to rise as responders and others search the rubble of homes and other buildings destroyed by Irma’s 175-mile-per-hour-plus winds.
Response effort
The centre of the response effort is the National Emergency Operations Centre, which is currently operating out of Peebles Hospital because the Department of Disaster Management’s McNamara offices were destroyed in the hurricane, forcing officials to evacuate mid-storm.
Aid is currently being provided by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Mounts Bay and the United Kingdom Marines, the governor explained, adding that relief supplies were being delivered to the sister islands as well as Tortola. More soldiers are expected to come soon.
Though there has been some looting and other crime — with reports of escaped prisoners and others prowling the streets with machetes and guns — the governor said a 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. curfew has been implemented and soldiers are helping patrol the territory and search for survivors.
“We are reaching the places that because of the geography of these islands are very difficult to get to,” he said, adding, “The government here is getting back onto its feet in order to get a response and relief going.”
At Peebles Hospital, the emergency room has been packed with patients, the wait to pick up prescriptions has been hours-long, and some medications have been entirely unavailable.
“There’s a need for more supplies, and we definitely need that coming in, and that’s one of our urgent priorities,” the governor said.
Many of the main roads have been cleared enough to allow vehicles to pass, and cleaning, securing and rebuilding are under way.
A few supermarkets are open as well, though with limited hours and under armed guard.
Places to stay
Though no official count has been provided, hundreds of residents have been left homeless by the storm. Some have moved in with friends or relatives, and stories about of people living 10 to a room in partially destroyed homes.
Others are living in shelters set up across the territory. Total shelter numbers were unavailable, but about 40 people are staying at the St. George’s Episcopal Church in Road Town, whose main sanctuary is being used for the purpose because the roof blew off the nearby church hall during the storm.
The atmosphere was tense Sunday night in the church, whose main doors had been blown off: Though the shelter manager had been warned about looting and other crime, no police officers were available to guard the sanctuary. Instead, shelter residents took turns keeping watch.
In part because of security concerns, shelter officials were hoping to move the occupants to the Multi-purpose Sports Complex on Monday.
Safety issues aside, the atmosphere in the church has been increasingly optimistic. Volunteers from the BVI Red Cross and the Rotary clubs have started bringing food, water and other items that had been in short supply in the days after the storm.
Storm stories
In Road Town, the streets have been increasingly busy as residents struggle to get back on their feet and find supplies and other necessities. There is much joyous celebration as friends and relatives are reunited for the first time after there storm, but there are tears too as bad news is received.
And nearly everyone has a story to share about how they survived the storm.
Ned Phillips, a safari bus driver, stayed in his Lower Estate apartment building. As the storm roared outside, the wind blew out his doors.
“Man, it was like a bomb going off,” he said. “That was the most scariest moment of my life.”
After the first part of the hurricane, he looked out during the eye of the storm to see that he still had his refrigerator and stove even though much of the kitchen — a wooden structure added on to his concrete home — was gone.
“When round two came and the storm came back, it seemed like it was more violent,” he said. “And I actually saw a washing machine go sailing like a piece of paper. And my refrigerator, I see it went flying too.”
Still, he is luckier than many: His concrete roof stayed in place and he believes the building will be fairly easy to salvage.
Among other residents, stories abound about surviving the storm after wooden roof blew off in the wind.
Nine family members held onto each other in an East End bathroom to keep from being blown away. A man emptied his refrigerator and climbed inside so he wouldn’t get struck by flying debris. Others cowered under beds, in closets and in basements.
What now?
Now many are asking what comes next. It is unclear when electricity and water will return, and some residents are evacuating via private charter planes as commercial flights have not yet resumed. Ferries are to be offered by Wednesday, according to Rotarian Astrid Wenzke, who was fielding media inquiries at the hospital.
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