Witt O’Brien’s Announces Progress Report on US Virgin Islands Recovery
October 16 2018 - 6:29PM
– Witt O’Brien’s, LLC (Witt O’Brien’s), a
subsidiary of SEACOR Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CKH) announced today the
public release of a first-year progress report on the United States
Virgin Islands’ recovery from Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
This report was issued by the Government of the United States
Virgin Islands (USVI), with the support of Witt O’Brien’s, its lead
recovery consultant. The report is available at
https://www.wittobriens.com/usvi-recovery-progress-report/.
In September 2017, these two Category 5 hurricanes devastated
USVI. The territory lost power and communications, roads were
washed out or blocked, and more than half the homes were damaged,
leaving residents unsheltered. The economy came to a near
standstill. In total, damage to the territory’s housing,
infrastructure and economy has been estimated to be $11
billion.
Key achievements during this first year of recovery include the
following:
- Power was restored within 100 days of the storms
- Airports and cruise ship terminals reopened within 60 days of
the storms
- Public water distribution resumed within one month of the
storms
- Almost 1 million cubic yards of debris were collected within 6
months of the storms
- Emergency repairs have been made to over 5,000 homes
- Critical healthcare services were restored through emergency
repairs and temporary modular centers
- Students returned for the 2018-19 school year in repaired
school buildings and new modular classrooms
- First response communication systems were restored, private
sector voice and data providers re-established most of the
territory’s pre-storm capabilities
- Tourism has rebounded quickly; reconstruction jobs and new
industry are contributing to economic recovery
- A key part of the recovery program is to enhance USVI’s
resilience to future disasters, through hazard mitigation and
infrastructure hardening
- The Federal government has committed over $8 billion in
recovery assistance, from Homeland Security (FEMA), Housing and
Urban Development and over a dozen other agencies
“As this report demonstrates, we have made outstanding progress
over the past year, including the courageous initial response to
the disaster by our residents, local first responders, businesses
and non-government organizations, and our Federal partners,” said
USVI Governor Kenneth Mapp. “But rebuilding will not be easy, and a
complete recovery will take years as we work to completely rebuild
some of the most critical aspects of our infrastructure. An
incredible amount of planning and coordination continues to take
place as we prepare our Territory for the vast construction and
rehabilitation ahead.”
“Virgin Islanders should be extremely proud of their recovery
just one year after being hit with back-to-back Category 5
hurricanes,” added Brad Gair, Witt O’Brien’s lead executive for
USVI recovery. “Having led many large-scale disaster recovery
efforts, including Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Hurricane
Sandy in New York City, I am extremely confident that the Virgin
Islands will seize this transformational opportunity to build true
resilience to future storms.”
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About Witt O'Brien'sWitt
O'Brien's builds resilience. We offer a full range of crisis
and emergency management solutions to prepare your organization
before disaster strikes, and to help you respond and recover more
quickly if it does. This includes unrivalled experience recovering
from manmade and natural disasters, including Hurricanes Michael,
Florence, Maria, Irma, Harvey, Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike and
Sandy. To learn more about our real-world experience and innovative
solutions, please visit us at wittobriens.com. Witt
O’Brien’s is a subsidiary of SEACOR Holdings Inc.
About SEACORSEACOR Holdings Inc. (NYSE:
CKH) is a diversified holding company with interests in domestic
and international transportation and logistics, and risk management
consultancy.
Media Contact
Heather Stickler, Witt O’Brien’s: hstickler@wittobriens.com or 1-202-585-0780
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