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Pictures: 27 Days After Irma

Last month, I posted photos that I captured four days after Hurricane Irma struck St. John. I went back and took the same photo last Saturday – 27 days after the storm. In some cases, there is a lot of hope, a lot of progress, a lot of green. In other cases, it illustrates the long road we still have ahead. Check out the pics:

Cruz Bay overlook
Cruz Bay overlook – September 10
October 7
October 7
Cruz Bay looking inland
Cruz Bay looking inland – September 10
October 7
October 7
Virgin Islands National Park sign - North Shore Road
Virgin Islands National Park sign – North Shore Road – September 10
vi park sign oct 7
October 7
Just past the sign - you can now see Caneel Bay
Just past the sign – you can now see Caneel Bay – September 10
October 7
October 7
Caneel Bay - Zozo's
Caneel Bay – Zozo’s – September 10
October 7
October 7
Entrance to Caneel Bay
Entrance to Caneel Bay – September 10
October 7
October 7
Beach sign in front of Caneel Bay entrance
Beach sign in front of Caneel Bay entrance – September 10
road at caneel oct 7
October 7
Hawksnest
Hawksnest – September 10
October 7
October 7
Gibney Cottages
Gibney Cottages – September 10
October 7
October 7
Oppenheimer gate
Oppenheimer gate – September 10
October 7
October 7
Entrance to Jumbie
Entrance to Jumbie – September 10
October 7
October 7
Trunk Bay overlook
Trunk Bay overlook – September 10
trunk oct 7
October 7
Just before entrance to Trunk Bay
Just before entrance to Trunk Bay – September 10
October 7
October 7
Entrance to Peter Bay
Entrance to Peter Bay – September 10
Peter Bay
Peter Bay

We recorded a GoPro video of North Shore road from the Virgin Islands National Park sign to Maho. We will share that with you all this weekend.

50 thoughts on “Pictures: 27 Days After Irma”

      • Thank you Jenn. I got this from a friend. My sister Sharon is in Coral Bay. Her home is gone, no generator or water. She said the one store there is super expensive and has no meats or other proteins and no produce. Also her bank isn’t open yet either and no power means no ATM. She said it is not good there at all and the people are being fed st the fire station in Coral Bay where she could text today cause sometimes she can’t. I think it goes in and out. I think it may be the Red Cross who are feeding the people out there but I heard they are leaving! Please send any info or pictures when you can. I thank you so much for these that you posted.
        Sincerely
        Marcia DiLiberti
        [email protected]
        Or Facebook
        Thank you!

        • Hello Marcia, yes, those are the Red Cross meals at the fire house but that is ending soon. Indigo is serving food too for free. Amazing people over there. Your comments are so true to what is happening over there. This is exactly why we are saying that tourists should not come back the second the power gets switched on. Our island needs more time to heal and rebuild.

          • Thank you so much for these photos. I was there this summer and I’ve been two or three times. I absolutely love your Island. If I wanted to come down and help rebuild, is there work that I could do to help and any places I could stay or could I put up a tent somewhere out of the way?

      • We have a trip planned for March 2018, we were there in February and had a great time. Wondering if you will be ready for visitors by March?

        Thanks
        Hank

      • hey guys I hope you all are ok . we used to live on St Thomas in 1995 for the hurricane Marilyn era. We relocated to Tampa , Florida after Marilyn.
        and we left St. john 30 days before Irma arrived . My question to you is , has anyone has dedicated to make an album about the damage the Island endure .

        I know these days everything is computerized ,but if any one has dedicated time to that duty I would like to have access to it . Even if I have pay a small contribution.

        thanks and happy New year

        The people of St. Thomas and St. John are always in our heart

        Hector and Family

  3. Thank you for the updated photos. Amazing the amount of greenery that is now growing. There appears to be much work still to do, but it is so encouraging to see the progress! And it feels good to see things moving forward.

  7. I have a B.S. in Forestry from the University of Illinois. In tropical forest ecosystems hurricanes are very similar to the fires that occur in the western United States, the fire actually causes certain seeds to germinate that only can by fire.Also other plants that were dormant in the forest floor also bloom because the canopy of trees has been removed or reduced. I suspect that the flora and fauna will come back fairly rapidly and you may even see flowers that you haven’t seen before. Thanks for the photos nature is amazing in its ability to recover from these events!

    • Really interesting, Tom, and very encouraging! Thanks for sharing your expertise. Between your comment and Jenn’s photos, I’m feeling so much more optimistic – and even excited – about the island’s recovery, and renewal! x

  8. Since my visit this summer I have been following your posts. I’m so glad the green is coming back. When I returned home I told everyone that St John is heaven. I can’t wait to get back. Thank you Jen for your posts.

  10. Thanks for taking the time to record the progress.
    I’m amazed at how much greenery there is.
    You’re correct in your assessment of good and bad,let’s focus on the good and soon come the bad will become good!

  15. Great work on the pictures Jenn. Maybe we can get Kenny Chesney to do a telethon for St John on the “official” last day of the 2017 Hurricane season (Thursday November 30th). Look forward to staying somewhere on the island first week of Feb 2018

  19. Thanks so much for your diligence with these updates! Sending thoughts and prayers to you all, and I look forward to returning to the island when you are back up and running.

  21. Nice to see the green. I just now figured out what freaks me out / looks so wrong about the trees stripped of foliage (in addition to the devastation it indicates): it looks LIKE WINTER. My brain can’t process that.

  22. Thanks Jenn for these pictures. So happy to see green! Can’t wait to come back. Lots of love and prayers to all on St. John.

  25. Jenn, thank you so much for the photos! As you can see we are all very happy to see the green and see nature take its course. This is a good thing you are doing, keeping the world abreast of the challenges and needs and progress on St. John post Irma.

  26. Jenn

    Thanks so much for the new photos. While we are all happy to see the green coming back, recovery is much more than leaves on the trees. Please remind people that so much more needs to be done before tourists return, no matter how much they want to help. We would love to help in any way we can but will wait until the island heals enough to accept new visitors.

  27. So glad to see photos of the island all green again!
    We have a trip planned for March of 2018, and hope that the island will be ready for tourist by then.

  28. Thanks Jenn for sharing your island, your world, with us each day. We look forward to the day when tourism is back in full swing and you can make a living with your weekly blog and the business advertisers to support your work and your love of it.
    We’re curious about Kekoa, it’s owner and his family and crew–hope they are all OK.

  29. Thanks so much for these updates. St. John and the people there are in our minds every single day. We were supposed to come in January for another visit (16years) now but sadly realize our island and it’s people won’t be ready for us.
    Loved seeing and reading about the new growth on the island, it truly gives everyone HOPE.
    ❤️❤️❤️

  31. WE HAVE A TRIP PLANNED FOR MARCH FOR CORAL BAY. ANYONE KNOW IF COCOLOBO AND OASIS RESTAURANT WILL BE OPEN BY THE? We don’t rent a car and like to walk to these businesses in Coral Bay. We might cancel if nothing is open.

  33. I love visiting St. Johns (it’s the best of USVI & BVI) and hope your recovery is as quick as humanly possible. I’m looking forward to seeing it again.

  34. Thank you so much for the photos. It wonderful to see so much growth in such a very short time.
    I have a trip to St. John planned for early February, and will be keeping a very close eye on your lovely site. Thank you so much for the updates. Please keep them coming!

  35. I was only talking about you all today to my husband. We were on the Island for two weeks in August – one of many visits because we so love St. John. We can’t wait to come back but will wait until you feel we tourists won’t be in the way of St. John’s recovery. Love the photos. Thank you for sharing. Hawksnest is our fav beach. Did the sea grape trees survive? And the iguanas?

  37. Than you soooo much! You have really been a lifeline of comprehensive information on our beloved STJ for all of us on the main land. Videos and photos provided today awesome!

  38. I’m so happy to see my home is improving gradually considering the eye of Irma sat on us and the BVI. Tourist who have their reservations made for next year to visit needs to understand, my home needs to heal. St. John is not ready to receive guest yet. We are a strong people, we are a RESILIENT people, we will REBUILD, we will RECOVER. This to shall pass by the GRACE of God….. #LOVECITYSTRONG

  39. Hello, My husband and are are thinking of visiting St. John in August 2018. We are wondering if the island will be ready for visiting then. Also,we are concerned about the safety of the island and wanted to make sure it’s safe to travel their,because we have read that many islands were experiencing problems with alot pf theft,and even murders and people coming up missing. We are planning a vacation to celebrate out 25th anniversary,and we just wanted to be certain that we were making the right decision to go there. We are very hopeful that the people of the island are getting the proper help to get their lives back together after such horrible storms.Thank you.

    • Hello, our island is actually ready for visitors now so please considering coming in August. We do not have a crime problem at all. St. John has not had a murder in years, and theft is not a problem here. It is a very happy little island whose people are very grateful for tourists. Please consider coming to visit us.

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