75.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsLocal governmentWAPA Releases Restoration Update for October 18

WAPA Releases Restoration Update for October 18

V.I. Water and Power Authority

HURRICANE RESTORATION UPDATE ELECTRIC SYSTEM

  • The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) will continue the restoration of electrical service to several areas across St. Thomas within the next week. Sections of St. John are expected to receive an initial wave of service restoration.
  • On Wednesday, line crews continued reconstructing circuits along the Lindbergh Bay road from AMCO Auto Sales north to Winnie’s Day Care and west toward Gladys Abraham Elementary School. Customers along the main lines will be restored when crews are energizing the primary lines. Additional streetlights are also expected to be energized. Over the next few days, the following areas are targeted for service restoration: Blyden Marine Terminal (Tortola Wharf), Veterans Drive towards Cancryn Junior High School and portions of Contant. Sections of the junior high school will be used to support local and federal responders.
  • On Friday, divers will be performing assessments of WAPA’s submarine cables to St. John, Hassel Island and Water Island, as preparations are made to restore electrical service to those areas.
  • Based on current restoration work schedules, WAPA is projecting to energize its East End Substation on Sunday and will thereafter begin to restore service to portions of Cruz Bay, including the Julius Sprauve School by the middle of next week. Additionally, portions of the Joseph Gomez Elementary School will be restored by early next week, with the Kean High School receiving service restoration by next weekend. The primary circuits on a portion of Feeder 9C from Fort Mylner to Nadir will be energized this weekend, and a portion of Feeder 7C, from Mc Donald’s Restaurant in Tutu to the top of Cassi Hill, is also slated for service restoration over the weekend.
  • On St. Croix, reconstruction work continued in the Sunny Isle and Watergut areas. The work in Watergut, near the seaplane terminal, will facilitate the restoration of additional customers on Feeder 1A, in downtown Christiansted. Crews also worked to reconstruct a circuit from Mill Harbor to Five Corners. Over the next few days, WAPA will be energizing additional streetlights on Centerline Road.

Both reconstruction and restoration work continued in Hannah’s Rest on Wednesday. Asplundh and WAPA crews will cut back roadside trees along Queen Mary Highway heading to Frederiksted, as the authority relocates primary circuits closer to the roadsides to avoid dense brush, which contributes to frequent service interruptions.

  • WAPA personnel has removed electrical meters at locations where damage was apparent to either an electrical meter base and/or weather head. In these instances, the customer is responsible for all repairs. WAPA will not reinstall meters until repairs are made and certified by a licensed electrician. Home and business owners are advised to make repairs to their damaged weather heads and or meter bases as soon as possible. Once crews have reached a neighborhood, those customers who have not had their weather head or meter base repaired will not have service immediately restored.

POTABLE WATER SYSTEM

  • There are four days of emergency water storage on St. John, nine days on St. Thomas and three days on St. Croix. In general, the potable water system is more than 90 percent restored in both districts following the two hurricanes.
  • On St. Thomas, water service has been interrupted to Contant Knolls housing community, Contant and the surrounding areas. Crews are working to restore faulty pumps at the Contant station.
  • On St. John, repairs are pending at the Cruz Bay pump station. Until these repairs are completed, the town of Cruz Bay is being provided potable water service from St. Thomas.
  • On St. Croix, water pressure continues to increase in Frederiksted and other west-end communities.
  • WAPA reminds clean-up contractors and homeowners to exercise caution when piling debris on and around potable water meters. There are a growing number of instances where water meters are being damaged by clean-up equipment grading debris and causing damage to the roadside water meters. The continued damage by heavy equipment poses difficulty in maintaining or restoring potable water service to customers.

OTHER INFORMATION

    Emergency Call Centers operate 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week.

St. Thomas-St. John district, 774-1424; St. Croix district, 773-0150

    WAPA telephone contact: St. Thomas-St. John District, 774-3552; St. Croix district, 773-2250

    Customer Service Offices operate Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sunny Isle on St. Croix and at Port of Sale Mall on St. Thomas

    WAPA website: www.viwapavi ; Facebook: Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.