USVI-On-Line

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PLEASE NOTE: This is based on actual events.
No names have been changed but some of the actual events
were made up by me for my own personal amusement. -c

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So, that's what it looked like.

I think to get an idea of what it felt like, you could
swing by one of those automatic car wash places, pay
your money and when it's your turn, get out of your
car and walk through it.

For instance, the camera "jerks" during the footage I shot are
caused by the wind blowing my arm. I had to lean hard
against the camera against the wall to keep it as
still as I did. Well, heck just look what happened
to Larry when he went out once the storm "died down"...

WAPA really was amazing. Between the devastation Earl
caused island wide and the fact that we live at Salt Pond,
considered the very end of the world even by St. John standards,
a few years ago we'd have been without power for a
month easy. Easy. The Las Vegas bookmakers would have posted odds
favoring at least two weeks before power would get to us.
WAPA got all but the remotest roads energized in under 4 days.
Four days after the damage this powerful storm caused
– there were trees, lines and poles strewn across our
roads from one end of the island to the other.
What they accomplished was nothing short of heroic.

All over the island the utility crews got standing
ovations. From smatterings of neighbors applauding and
waving as the crews drove through the streets to one
night when everyone in Skinny's stood up and applauded
a WAPA crew that came in the restaurant to eat.
The WAPA & Innovative crews were amazing.

Well, that's that. Until the next one.
Hope you enjoyed the video! -c


Dear Earl, It is so much better, easier, less frightening when a storm hits during daylight.
Thank you Earl for being just about the Best Category Four I've ever met.

great job, Cheryl! How brave of you to film that for all of us to see!! I would have been hiding like Georgia!!! Love the mix of the Wizard of Oz - nice touch!

Love this! Great work!

Like you said, most hurricanes have a nasty habit of showing up at night.

So glad that things got back to "normal" (that being a relative term on island) so quickly.

I remember the devastation of Marilyn and how long it took to get back to "normal."

My friend would go and visit one of the BVI's and stay in a hotel to get away from all the clean up on STT. He would spend the first hour just flipping the light switch on and off again like a three year old.

I'll be seeing you guys in December!! A LOT!

In the meantime, don't blow anywhere!

Awesomeness. The video. WAPA, Larry's disappearing act. ALL of it. Awesomeness!

Gromit wrote:My friend would go and visit one of the BVI's and stay in a hotel to get away from all the clean up on STT. He would spend the first hour just flipping the light switch on and off again like a three year old.

Ooh, you just reminded me of my latest MDI (Million Dollar Idea).
It came to me the morning of the third day without power thanks to Earl.
I'm gonna invent a "retractable" light switch for
those of us who live in regions prone to lengthy power-outages.

The worst part of this storm was that
everytime I went in our bathroom I flipped the light
switch on. Talk about the exact opposite of the ecstasy your friend felt in that hotel.

OOOOh I was so frustrated with myself when three days
into it I was still flipping that damn bathroom light
switch. So I decided to design a light switch that
you can retract into and make flush with the wall when the power's out.
That way when someone who is still going for the light switch,
even after being without power for 8 hours, 36 hours or even 168 hours,
reaches for the switch it won't be there and
thus that person will be spared the agony of still
flipping the damn switch before remembering that the
power is still out.

¢ha-¢hing! -¢

That was great and I'm so glad all are safe. A BIG cheers to WAPA!!!

Gotta tell you...if that was my cat. she'd still be under those covers!

Perfect Cheryl! If they can make millions on stupid little shaped bands that the kids are freaking out over, then you for SURE have a winner!!!!

I was "blown away" when meeting Larry in April....Happy to see he didn't get "blown away" by Earl....Good job Cheryl!

Classic....

Thanks for sharing...I hope that was the last one for a while!

WICKED EARL!!! Glad you were able to put on a happy face through it all!!
Sorry that Larry blew away . . . hope he comes back in 3 weeks to make us killer lobstah rolls and a frosty Keep Left Drink Rights!! PU-LEEZE!

That was great...thanks for the awesome video. I'm glad everyone, including Larry, is safe.

GREAT VIDEO!!! I've seen a lot of video from Earl but this one really TELLS you what it looked like and what happened. As an old film/video editor I'm really impressed by your techniques and timing and effects. Thanks Cheryl for putting it all together. So sorry to see what was lost on the island but happy that everyone seemed to stay safe and well. I'll be on St John in Feb and plan to come and visit you for lunch and thank you in person. Tell Larry that all of us here in East Hampton miss him. The old Bostwicks ain't what it used to be.

I love your videos! You are one of the most creative people!

WOW ! Fantastic Video ! Really Appreciated it So Happy everyone stayed SAFE ! Good Luck with the Cleanup ! God Luv Ya's !