Shortly before growing into a Category One hurricane early this afternoon, Tropical Storm Ernesto battered the Virgin Islands with more than 12 hours of high winds and heavy rain as it passed directly over the territory last night and this morning.
In its wake were downed trees, widespread power outages, obstructed roads, flood damage and a few rockslides, but as of this afternoon no injuries had been reported, according to Department of Disaster Management Director Jasen Penn.
During the passage of the storm, winds in the territory averaged around 48 miles per hour, with the highest gust clocked at 85.7 mph, Mr. Penn told the Beacon.
Recorded rainfall in the territory ranged from 5.5 inches to eight inches in different areas, he added.
North side damage
On Tortola, Mr. Penn said preliminary reports suggested the worst damage was along the Ridge Road and on the island’s north side, including Cane Garden Bay and Brewers Bay.
“So far, the reports that we’ve had coming in is mostly a lot of downed trees, very limited mudslides, [obstructed] roads that will be cleared by the road crews,” he said early yesterday afternoon. “There were a few poles and lines that came down.”
He noted that he didn’t know of any roads that were still fully blocked following initial sweeps by road crews.
The sister islands, he said, saw similar damage as Tortola.
Cleaning up
Bursts of heavy rain and wind continued until around midday today as crews worked to clear roads, restore electricity, and otherwise address the damage.
By 4 p.m., power outages — which affected most of the territory from the time the first heavy gusts began to arrive at around 7 p.m. Tuesday — were still widespread.
Though government had not issued the all-clear, several residents had also emerged from their homes to start cleaning up their properties.
In areas including Flemming Street in Road Town, business proprietors were addressing damage from flooding and other impacts.
In Cappoons Bay, part of a blue fence lay in the road across from beachfront rooms at Sebastian’s on the Beach.
But Sebastian’s co-owner Joey Barnes wasn’t fazed.
“The real damage is what’s going on inside the bar,” he joked. “People just won’t stop drinking. It’s a hurricane party.”
Danger not over
Mr. Penn, however, warned against complacency.
“We’re moving into the high point of the hurricane season,” he said. “So there’s always a potential for more systems to develop. There’s always a potential for us to be impacted by more than one system, as we would have seen with hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.”