Great news to share with you all today … the damaged boats are finally being removed from Hurricane Hole! How exciting is that??!!
As you all probably know, roughly 50 damaged vessels remain in Hurricane Hole following last September’s storms. The Stafford Act prohibited FEMA from providing funding or assistance for the removal of these boats, which is why they were not removed by the Coast Guard and its contractor, Resolve Marine Group, which cleaned up the vessels in Cruz Bay and Coral Bay. Well funding was finally provided and signed off on by the President. Great news all around.
Cleanup began Tuesday in Princess Bay. (Hurricane Hole is comprised of four different bays.) Cleanup in Princess Bay will continue today, Wednesday. They will begin removing vessels from Borck Creek tomorrow, and then they will move on to Otter Creek between August 17th and 19th. Work will begin in Water Creek on August 20th.
Once work is completed in Hurricane Hole, the recovery vessels will move over to Mary Creek. Boat removal is expected to begin in that area on August 24th.
For those of you who would like to track the progress, you can look for the barge that is doing the work on an App called Marine Traffic or on its website at www.marinetraffic.com. In a nutshell, the App and website allow you to track vessels throughout the world. (We wrote about it back in 2014. Click here to read that story.) The tug that is pulling the barge which is removing the vessels is called the Meagan Ann. Here is a screenshot we took from the App Tuesday afternoon, so you know what to look for if you decide to track it.
We will keep you all posted on this. Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!
Saw the Hurricane Hole boats with you, Jenn, during our March News of St. John island tour. Super news!! You and all St. Johnians have shown ‘true grit’, courage and community throughout the past year’s
recovery. The Blog has allowed off island St. John lovers to keep posted and contribute from afar. LOVE Kenny Chesney’s “Songs
for the Saints” disc ❤️⛱!!!
Have the damaged vessels all been removed from Hurricane Hole? I have been periodically checking the marine traffic site and the Megan Ann is off of Annaberg point as of 8/21.