USVI-On-Line

have read elsewhere that ferries will run at 1pm. also read early this morning that flights before noon were all canceled. don't know if that has changed so they should check with the airlines before making their way out.

Kentuckygirl wrote:I'm glad to hear she passed by with little or no damage.... I was worrying! I'm keeping an eye on the spicecam, hoping the sun with come out soon!

Spicecam is still down, but several other STJ webcams are working, now, at least...
http://stjohnbrewers.com/webcam.html
http://www.greatexpectationsusvi.com/st ... lla/webcam
http://kaleidoscope.dyndns-ip.com:8080/main.htm
http://208.84.193.88:8888/view/viewer_i ... ml?id=1474
http://serendipity.vi/
http://www.villavacations.net/
http://beachbarstjohn.com/webcam_sunset.htm
http://www.stjohnspice.com/spicecam/
And it is great to see the SpiceCam is back! (4PM)

STJ-lovin' Aggie wrote:Can someone please tell me when the ferries will resume? I have family trying to leave...thanks

Just spoke with Love City Car Ferries - Capt Vic, stated no ferries for the remainder of today - will be running tomorrow

rain go bye bye
<a href="http://content.screencast.com/users/sho ... .png"><img class="embeddedObject" src="http://content.screencast.com/users/sho ... .28.15.png" width="693" height="231" border="0"></a>

lprof wrote:

Kentuckygirl wrote:I'm glad to hear she passed by with little or no damage.... I was worrying! I'm keeping an eye on the spicecam, hoping the sun with come out soon!

Spicecam is still down, but several other STJ webcams are working, now, at least...
http://stjohnbrewers.com/webcam.html
http://www.greatexpectationsusvi.com/st ... lla/webcam
http://kaleidoscope.dyndns-ip.com:8080/main.htm
http://208.84.193.88:8888/view/viewer_i ... ml?id=1474
http://serendipity.vi/
http://www.villavacations.net/
http://beachbarstjohn.com/webcam_sunset.htm
http://www.stjohnspice.com/spicecam/
And it is great to see the SpiceCam is back! (4PM)

Yes! I watched Serendipity's cam while the Spicecam was down!

we got here on friday. this is my first tropical storm! we are still having fun, spent most of sunday riding the waves on hawknest in the wind and rain. loved it! slept great with the sound of the rain on the roof. but irene flipped the picnic table and made a mess of the pool.



today we took a ride out to the east end and had lunch at shipwreck in the rain. coral bay looking rough and muddy. this has been fun but its time for irene to go and let the sun come out.

There is some preparation that is common before a tropical storm and removing the umbrella from the table would be high on that list.

thanks exitzero. the umbrella was closed and i didn't know it would blow over, now i know better for next time

Exit Zero wrote:There is some preparation that is common before a tropical storm and removing the umbrella from the table would be high on that list.

Just curious on this since I will be heading down next month. Is that typically the responsibility of the renter to secure things for an impending storm or would the rental agency be doing that?

We had a TD come through in 2006 while we were there. Knowing that my owners were less than attentive, I pulled the umbrellas out and stored them. I pondered throwing all the furniture in the pool (another thing you do sometimes...keeps it from blowing away). I didn't do the latter and went for a dip the following AM to pull some chairs out.

I'm already pondering doing the same for our townhouse pool this coming weekend...

My post was not meant as a criticism but a sincere comment that the villa should have a simple list in place that informs renters of common precautions for a storm - considerably different than preparing for a Hurricane - which would likely include shutters - [ although I put my shutters on Sunday and glad I did] - and a complete removal of all deck furniture, plants moved to a more secure position, generator prep, water intrusion plan and things that a rental agencyshould likely be responsible for which would likely include evacuation of the villa either to a hotel or off- island.
Leaving umbrellas, plants, furniture, etc in place for a predicted 40mph sustained wind storm could easily escalate into broken windows or sliding glass doors and the rental agency or owner should inform a renter of the danger involved and a delineated list of simple precautions and some common sense preparations - TS Irene could have easily ramped up to Hurricane strength before arriving in the VI and because these systems can change direction and intensity very rapidly without much lead time or warning there is no advantage in waiting until the last second before securing easily windblown objects.
I do believe that a renter at the very least deserves a phone call from the owner or agency in the face of a storm like this weekends and that they should not be left to fend for themselves to try and figure these things out.

[quote="mbw1024]Just curious on this since I will be heading down next month. Is that typically the responsibility of the renter to secure things for an impending storm or would the rental agency be doing that?[/quote]

I believe the rental agency typically handles stuff like that. At least the agencies we have rented from. There is usually something in the villa information book about what procedures the agency has in place for preparing the villa for a storm. When Emily was forming our agency called to let us know that they were watching the storm and if any prep needed to be done they would be coming out. Luckily that was not necessary.

I don't know what the procedure is if you rent from VRBO.

I think that exitzero makes an excellent point--all cottages/villas should have some kind of process for dealing with these events. I am sure that some do (becuase i have heard of persons being evacuated from rental homes) but certainly not all--

Like others, I believe the rental agent has a duty to let their villa guests know a storm is on the way. As local sailor said, things can escalate quickly into far more than you bargained for. However, I think people who vacation in the tropics during hurricane season need to take some personal responsibility here and understand the damage that can occur in even "just" a tropical storm. They also need to watch the weather on a daily basis so they know that something's afoot. If the villa management company hasn't called them, the guests need to proactively call the villa management company. And if the villa management company isn't responsive, for the guest's own safety they should move the deck furniture and plants to a safer location.

I noticed in my neighborhood the only people who closed their shutters and took serious precautions were people who live here and know what can happen.

We got off lightly this time, but we've been through storms that were supposed to be "just" a depression or a tropical storm and we got a hurricane instead.