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.

Damage inflicted by the one-two punch of Hurricanes Irma and Maria could keep Virgin Islands National Park virtually closed for six months to a year, according to the National Park Service's Caribbean superintendent. When the five other parks in the Caribbean reopen depends largely on when the islands' power grids are restored and fuel becomes available, he added.

While work continued to progress Saturday on clearing away the mess that Hurricane Irma made of National Park System units in Florida and Georgia, there were no details on the fate of National Park Service employees and facilities in the Caribbean that were pummeled by Irma and then Hurricane Maria.

With Hurricane Maria, which has blossomed into a Category 5 storm with winds gusting above 160 mph, hours away from a direct hit on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Island, islanders were doing the best they could to prepare for the wind and rain.