03 September 2014

It’s hurricane season here in the USVI. So far, just a couple of Tropical Storms and/or depressions. We already have one of the busiest hurricane months, August, behind us. Maybe it will be a quiet season. But you never know. So, best to be prepared. And we are. The image at right was the last piece of the preparedness projects I completed last weekend. I had to make a new hurricane board for the east window. It mounts over an iron grate that protects that opening. Somehow the last one got used or lost.

One of the greatest natural threats in the Virgin Islands is hurricanes. Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th with the highest occurrences of storms in August and September. (The table below indicates tropical storm and hurricane activity which occurred within two degrees of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico from 1819 to 2001. Source: NOAA)

Hurricane Marilyn 1995

Storm Activity from 1819-2001

• JAN – 1
• FEB – 0
• MAR – 0
• APR – 0
• MAY – 0
• JUN – 0
• JUL – 9
• AUG – 34
• SEPT – 38
• OCT – 9
• NOV – 4
• DEC – 0

We have a very good emergency alert system in place here called VI-Alert which Sharon and I both are signed up for. Plus, between Weather Underground and NOAA, it’s pretty easy to stay abreast of coming storms.

The last major hurricane that affected the islands was Hurricane Marilyn (image above) in September 1995. Previously there was Hurricane Hugo in September 1989. There have been smaller hurricanes that have impacted the USVI like Hurricane Georges in September 1998 and Hurricane Lenny in November 1999, but none as severe in recent years as Marilyn and Hugo.

We shall see what Mother Nature has in store for us in the coming months. Stay tuned.