Blackout!
The chirping of tree frogs was drowned out by the droning of generators across St. John last night after a massive power outage hit both St. John and St. Thomas. At 4:02 pm, there was an explosion at one of the largest generating units on St. Thomas that “catapulted the island-district into a complete blackout”, to quote the Gov‘s office. Five students, working as interns at the plant, were treated for burns.
Power was finally restored on St. John at about 11:30 last night, making for what was the longest power outage in about a year.
Villas with generators kept the lights on and the beer cold. Folks at villas without one found out first hand why there are all those flashlights scattered about.
POP QUIZ: Been on St. John when there was a power outage? How did you handle it? Did the management company let you know what was going on? Did your beer get warm?
July 18th, 2007 08:48
Jeff
Sh!@ you posted the same time I was entering the info on my blog…..OOPS…………
July 18th, 2007 08:49
July 2006, we lost power late at night and did not get it back until early afternoon. How did we cope? We slept outside under the stars with the ocean putting us to sleep and we spent a hella lot of time in the pool.
July 18th, 2007 08:57
We’ve been on STJ during a few power outages, most notably there were several when we were there in late July of 2006. They were all during bad storms at night so we were already in bed, but the heat was sweltering without a/c or fans…I think the power went out maybe 3 times over the course of a few days for two to four hours each time. We just waited/sweated it out and all was well in the end.
July 18th, 2007 10:30
Only open the fridge for a fresh beer and it will stay cold for a long time
July 18th, 2007 10:35
Jeesh…at the house we’ve rented, we had daily power outages. I just assumed it was par for the course.
The longest one was one evening for a few hours. I got out the crank radio and tuned in, of all things, a St Louis Cardinals game. The rest of the gang just went to sleep for a while. Whenit came back, we resumed consumption of Cruzan.
Another time, during a daytime outage, I tried to use the house’s hose to rinse off my Tevas. BAD IDEA! As everyone knows, you need power to run the pump that draws water from the cistern. I blew the prime on the pump and had to sheepishly ask the villa owner to help me.
July 18th, 2007 10:37
Lessee… yes, by drinking beer, yes, and no because of response to question #2.
July 18th, 2007 12:13
We were in STJ at the rental villa we own during the 100 yr rain/storm in Nov. 2003 and the power was on and off for 5 days and out completely for 2 1/2. We didn’t know then how to use the generator, so we didn’t use it. We drank rum and diets and played a long game of Monopoly by candlelight! We also spent a lot of time down at the Beach Bar (Wharfside had their generator running) where, amazingly, the kitchen was still open (the cook was wearing a flashlight on his head) and drank for hours and dined by candlight with about 10 other people. It was actually one of my favorite STJ memories!
July 18th, 2007 12:42
Yes, we were sleeping so soundly with the fan and A/C on full blast then all of a sudden, fan slowing down, A/C off! Hot! What time is it? Where are those little flashlights?
We went to the deck and WOW! The whole island is pitch dark, the Westin, pitch dark! But the stars were shining like I have never seen before: AWESOME!
Next thing ya know, a truck is driving to the Westin. He parks by a building and boom! Flips a switch and voila! Westin lights! Now that’s service, but what about us? A few hours went by and eventually we had power again and the clock blinked 3:52 a.m.
July 18th, 2007 14:04
Never for very long. The longest was on our second trip during the day. Power went out pretty much everywhere for about four hours. We just jumped in the pool. Other times have been briefer–no longer than an hour or so. Last trip we only had one outage, but it happened at 3:30 AM with a big bang and woke us up.
July 19th, 2007 05:01
Was on STJ 2006 the last of july/1st of aug. big storm blew doors of villa open rain like never before. Stayed at a Destination STJ villa next day I think his name was Benton he was great made sure we were ok, brought more flashlights,although we had plenty. It was very nice to have the villa folks make sure every thing was ok. Destination STJ is a great co. really felt like they care and want your trip to be a good safe one.
July 19th, 2007 05:53
After Hurricane Marilyn in ‘95 we didn’t have power at our house in Chocolate Hole for eleven weeks. The blissful hum of generators rolled over the hills all day and most of the night for months afterwards. We went to the store every day for food and booze. We did have a generator at what was left of the house, but we used it primarily to keep the pool clean. Ya gotta have priorities, ya know?
July 19th, 2007 06:23
Back in the early 70’s the power could be off for days. No one would be concerned, life just went on. There was one person who could start the generator (for the island) and if he was off island you just waited. After Hurricane Marylin my power was off for three months. The day I got power restored lightning struck the transformer close to my house and power was off for about another week.
July 19th, 2007 07:05
David is right. Life just went on in St. John power outages were a common occurrence. I lived by the generator, affectionately called “the green hornet”. If the generator man was not off island he would try and start the generator. He always gave it three attempts to start . If it did not start on the third - the power would be off for a very, very long time!
Power outages never interrupted TV there was none! this was before cable and there was only one station and their program hours were short, they went off the air in the early evening.
July 24th, 2007 10:44
The guiness was warm and the pizza rolls were toasted on the grill!
July 28th, 2007 11:24
We just got home this morning. We went through 3 power outages this last week. The one in mention lasted till 12:00 am and boy was it hottttt….. No AC, No Fan and the bugs were out in full force because of all the rain that the island has been getting. But we have to remember that 5 people got hurt because of the transformer blowing up on St. Thomas. I heard they are doing better.
We had a great time! 2 weeks in paradise. Now thats a great vacation even if there are power problems.