The recovery efforts for National Park System units in the Caribbean continues in the wake of the spate of hurricanes.
“Restaurants are opening up and there are several places to buy groceries,” Murray Shoemaker, a National Park Service public information officer temporarily based on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands said Sunday in an email. “Power is coming back…slowly. Many places are still on generators, meaning cold water showers and limited lights.”
National Parks Traveler reported that the 110-foot Motor Vessel Fort Jefferson, from Dry Tortugas National Park, has been providing support to the parks in the Caribbean since it sailed from Key West, Florida on Sept. 25. It brought 24 tons of critical supplies from the mainland, destined for Virgin Islands National Park on the island of St. John and Christiansted National Historic Site on the island of St. Croix. Since that initial trip, the Fort Jefferson continues shuttling supplies, equipment and personnel among the parks.
Also assisting the Caribbean parks has been the Los Diablos Fire Crew. The 23-person crew is part of the Big Bend National Park Wildland Fire Program in Texas, with most of the crew members from the Mexican states of Coahuila and Chihuahua. They are assisting with park employee housing and facility stabilization, as well as cutting, clearing and stacking debris from roads, trails and beaches.
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