Our annual warm weather getaway to St. Thomas (USVI) has been a bittersweet reminder of both our fragility and the transient nature of the world we all share.
We have warm tropical memories of our toes buried buried in the white sand and floating weightless in the turquoise waters of Lindquist and Sapphire Beaches. The sight of the US Virgin Islands as they are now might not have been as emotionally impactful to someone seeing them for the first time but since this is our third trip back in as many years we know St. Thomas and St. John’s as the paradise they once were.
Our Airbnb host, Lecia, has become a very close friend. When my wife and I said goodbye to Lecia last year we had no idea that just five months later she would have to suffer through two Category 5 hurricanes.
In April of 2017 St. Thomas was a picturesque, tropical island.
Today most of the old growth trees and plants are swept away by the storms and the island is dotted with patches of desert landscape. Despite the hell it’s been through in the last year, nature is surprisingly resilient, new growth is springing up all around us. People seem to be in steady psychological recovery as well. Island life in general attracts those people who possess the optimism associated with a pioneering spirit.
Man-made dwellings aren’t faring quite as well as nature or the human spirit. All four of the major hotels on the island are closed until further notice and many of the local businesses are still shuttered. Blue tarps still cover partially destroyed homes, piles of sorted and twisted metal dot the fields. Cellular service and Wifi are spotty, at best (this explains my lack of engagement on Steemit since we arrived last week). Construction company employees from around the world are converging here in the islands as insurance companies have begun to pay claims and things are recovering, albeit slowly.
The personal stories we’ve heard from natives on the island are as heartbreaking as they are inspiring. Some of these stories vary widely from the news that was reported by the mainstream media. Seeing the weariness and pain still held in the eyes of residents a full seven months after the storms, gives it an extra dose of gravitas.
Lecia said that Irma, the first storm, hit Bolongo Bay with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour for over twelve hours and the second hurricane, Maria made landfall exactly two weeks later. The torrential rains of Maria drowned what Irma didn’t already destroy.
Luckily, Lecia rebuilt her house after the last major hurricane, twenty one years ago, so the structure survived mainly intact. The only road out of her neighborhood was washed out and covered with debris for two weeks before her and her neighbors could even leave. Martial law was imposed immediately so residents couldn’t leave anyway without the threat of being arrested.
The Red Cross delivered care packages to Lecia and her neighbors consisting of canned vienna sausages, granola bars, and Skittles. Residents were expected to survive for two weeks consuming this diet for every meal. Some residents on other parts of the islands received MRE’s, which were much more nutritionally balanced but what you got in terms of aid was mainly left to chance.
The general vibe of chaos and civil unrest which was reported on the nightly news appears to be mostly false here in St. Thomas according to the people we’ve spoken with on the island. The general consensus is looting and violence happened but was a rarity and most citizens worked together to help each other survive. Listening to first hand accounts of what really happened not only bolsters my belief in humanity but they also reminds me of how badly certain things need to change. We can and must do better in so many ways.
As the ocean temperatures continue to rise, and the severity of storms increase, we need to be better prepared for these kinds of disasters. A mandatory aspect of reconstruction in areas hit by disasters should be replacing archaic power grids with decentralized power grids fed by renewable energy. The main power station here on the island is diesel powered, tech that is about sixty years old. In the worst cases, mass migration away from certain areas may make sense. One thing is clear, there must be an end to denying what science tells us to be true.
Sadly, the incompetent decisions being made by certain politicians who don't reflect the will of the majority and are being paid for in innocent human lives. This should no longer be acceptable. Places like the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are canaries in the ecological mineshaft, merely a glimpse of what is soon to come on a much wider scale. The realities of those who perpetuate falsehoods for their own gain are insulated and tainted by money and status. If we continue to walk the path we're on no one will escape unscathed. By the time the elite wake up to the fact that their money and power won’t save them it might be too late for us all. This is a thought that we should ponder not only on Earth Day but on election day as well.
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As always, I thank you for reading.
Yours in the Chain,
Eric
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