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Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
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'Allawe' Gather to Remember Hugo

Robert Moorehead and Hortense Rowe at the Allawe Remebering Hugo event.About 150 locals and visitors with ties to St. Croix and Hurricane Hugo gathered Sunday at St. George Village Botanical Garden to remember, recollect and reminisce about the horrible night Hugo paid St. Croix a visit 25 years ago and its aftermath.

Hugo, was a category four hurricane when it made landfall on St. Croix, Sept. 17, 1989, and continued to pound the Caribbean through the 18th.

Robert Moorehead, executive director of VITEMA and commander general of the VI National Guard during Hugo, told the crowd at the Great House that all of the organization fell on his shoulders.

“It was the worst experience of my entire life,” Moorehead said adding. “And I spent 24 years in the military.”

Questa Verde condominiums lie in ruins after Hugo finally passed over. The aerial photo was part of a display at the St. George Village Botanical Gardens.He spoke about what actually happened in the aftermath and the looting and what the media perceived to be happening. He said all the reports to the states were negative. People called their congressmen and said people were looting and things were crazy on St. Croix.

“People were very emotional,” Moorehead said. “I’m not saying nothing happened, there was massive looting going on downtown.” And he said it was true that Fathi Yusuf, owner of Plaza Extra, had someone on the roof of Plaza with a machine gun. He said Yusuf had good reason to have the store protected – Plaza Extra was designated by FEMA to supply food for the victims.

Hortense Rowe, a Red Cross volunteer, said she was directed to get supplies at Plaza and ended up spending the night in the store. She said for the record, Yusuf was protecting the food for the general population because it was the only store open.

Basin Triangle shows the aftermath of Hugo.Other speakers at Sunday’s event included Sen. Holland Redfield, who did a live radio broadcast the night Hugo hit; Llewellyn Westerman, a charter boat captain, who sang his original song called “Wild,Wild Wind;” Winnie “Oyoko Loving, who read a poem she wrote, titled Hugo the Horrible"; local author Richard Schrader, who read excerpts from stories and poems he wrote in “The Trail of Hugo a Legacy of Devastation;” Elroy Harrison; Ray Iles and Nadija Packauskas.

Local artist and bird rehabilitator Toni Lance reminisced about the tiny humming birds that made it through the storm. The next day they were out looking for food, and she set up feeders for them.

In closing comments Veronica Gordon, local bush woman and artist, said the earth goes through cycles and needs a cleansing like Hugo.

Myron and Mary Bontrager, who spent the first five weeks of their married life volunteering on St. Croix after Hugo, returned for celebration.“Old growth blocks new life,” Gordon said. “The Garden was devastated, but it has come back better than ever. After a hurricane we just get on our knees and give thanks for life.”

Organizers set up a gallery of photos in the center the hall, and people attending clustered around to view photos of the storm and its aftermath.

Some of the visitors to the garden event also had special reasons to celebrate events of 25 years ago.

Myron and Mary Bontrager from Mississippi, are visiting St. Croix to celebrate their 25th anniversary on St. Croix. They were newly married and volunteering with the Mennonite Disaster Service when Hugo hit. They spent the first five weeks of their marriage roughing it on St. Croix and doing construction, they said.

Both expressed amazement at how different St. Croix looks now.

Geoff Gillon and daughter Brittany returned to St. Croix for the remembrance.Geoff Gillon and his daughter Brittany, from Georgia, were on island celebrating her 25th birthday. Geoff was a pilot with Eastern Airlines living on St. Croix when Hugo landed. His wife went into labor on the 18th and had to catch the first flight off island to Miami for the birth of Brittany.

Kenneth Guye, a resident who experienced Hugo, said it was great that organizers of the remembrance brought people together to share experiences.

“This was the perfect opportunity to show that we are resilient and to remember that people can work together.”

Gloria Joseph, editor of “Hell Under Gods’s Orders,” signed copies of this out-of-print book about Hugo, with sales benefiting the garden.

Culinary students from Good to Chew catering at St. Croix Career and Technical Education Center prepared and sold lunch. The bar included a special “No Hurricane” drink made with Cruzan gold rum, Cruzan mango rum, orange juice, grenadine, and mango juice, served in a no-hurricane cup painted by local artist Phyllis Charles.

Donors to the silent auction all experienced Hugo and all stayed on St. Croix. Those contributing were Bombay Club, Buccaneer, Caribbean Sea Adventure,Club Comanche Hotel, Crucian Gold, Duggan’s Reef, Maria Henle Studio, Ulla Neuberger, Olympic Car Rental, Plaza Extra, Quality Electric, Reliable Rentals and Sonya’s. All the proceeds from the auction will go to the garden.

Some of the sponsors of ‘Allawe’ Remembering Hugo were Sandi Savage, Apothecary Hall, Cruzan Rum, Reliable Rentals, Llewellyn’s Charters, A Better Copy and more.

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