Hurricanes Irma and Maria uprooted trees and destroyed roads last month in Virgin Islands National Park/NPS

A month after hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the Caribbean and parts of the Atlantic Coast, all National Park Service sites in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico remain closed through the foreseeable future due to unsafe and hazardous conditions.

The NPS Eastern Incident Management Team and Randy Lavasseur, the superintendent for the National Parks of the Caribbean, on Friday reiterated and reinforced the closure due to continued recovery and emergency stabilization efforts. No date to reopen any areas is known at this time. As local conditions improve, the parks will re-evaluate and may open specific areas.

Superintendent Lavasseur said last week that he expects Virgin Islands National Park, which covers more than half of St. John, will remain closed for at least six months.

“We’re still running on generators (at St. John),” he told the Traveler. “They’re (the Virgin Islands government) going to have to do a whole reconstruction of the power grid out there. So we’re not optimistic for power. We’re still anticipating six months to a year before we can even start thinking about reopening St. John. Absolutely. We had a lot of significant structural damage. We lost buildings. The power grid out there, it was never really stable in the beginning. Being the mass destruction of the power grid, it’s going to take a long, long time for the power to come up.”

Due to the closure, all holders of Special Use Permits should consider any current or pending permits to be on hold until the park area reopens. Permit holders are encouraged to visit www.nps.gov/aboutus/news/severe-weather-response.htm for updates to local conditions and progress of stabilization efforts, or visit the individual park unit website.

Meanwhile, news was better in Florida at Everglades National Park, which also has been recovering from Hurricane Maria. The park expects to reopen the Main Park Road and Flamingo on Saturday with limited services.

Flamingo will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, with boat ramps at Flamingo available to public and commercial operators. Mariners should use extreme caution as many navigational aids and channel markers are gone and because of presence of other underwater hazards.

Due to the storm damage caused by a large tidal surge:

• There is no fuel, food, water or restroom facilities at this time at Flamingo.
• The marina store and Flamingo visitor center also remain closed.
• Concessions boat tours are suspended until further notice.
• The nearest open public restrooms are at West Lake.