Almost 50 people gathered Thursday evening to reflect, remember and praise God for surviving Hurricane Hugo on the anniversary of the devastating storm that hit St. Croix 20 years ago this week.
The V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) hosted a Day of Remembrance and Reflection to mark the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo. The VITEMA staff and emergency services responders were on hand for the event at Teddy’s Party Center in Sion Farm.
People had the chance to voice their recollections of the horrible night and the following days and weeks.
“It was a blessing that Hugo came at night and most people were at home,” said Lt. Gov. Gregory Francis, then a chief warrant officer in the V.I. National Guard. “If it had happened during the day we may have had more casualties. We made it – through the good grace of God.”
Francis said guardsmen went to work right away assisting any way they could, working around the clock “25 hours a day.” He added that the day after the storm, people opened their homes to total strangers or shared food. “There was a lot of love and caring people helping each other,” Francis said.
People described the unbelievable sound of the wind, roofs bellowing and windows bowing.
“The sound was terrible. I just prayed it would be over soon – it felt like it went on forever,” Barbara Magras, emergency service coordinator for the Department of Natural Resources, said.
“My brother held on to the roof and it kept lifting him up and down,” Donna DeAltier Pickard said. “I never knew glass could bend but the windows at work kept bending.”
Eleanor Charles, a nurse at the time, said she would never forget how the roof of Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital looked like it was waving. “With God’s mercy we pulled through,” Charles said.
Another attendee, Dorothy Brown, told how she felt the Holy Spirit led her to move her two small boys out of a room just before a window blew in on the bed they were lying on and shattered.
Local pastors attending and giving praise were Revs. Eleanor Estrada, Dexter Skepple, and Kenneth Gaddy.
Gaddy reminded the people that material things don’t define them. “You lost stuff – but you are still here,” Gaddy said. “You don’t need a Lexus or a big house. The storm put things in proper perspective.”
Holy Ghost Deliverance Praise Team, all dressed in shades of purple, sang songs of praise that got the audience singing, swaying, clapping, and raising their hands in praise.
Attendees pored over old newspapers on display from the day before Hugo hit and continuing with editions through November.
“This was such a wonderful remembrance,” Agnes Hamilton said. “We couldn’t be here today without God and we need to remember what He has done.”
Jacqueline Heyliger, St. Croix deputy director of VITEMA, said the first-ever remembrance ceremony was also a celebration of building a better and more prepared community.
