In Irma-devastated US Virgin Islands, resolve blends with worry of being forgotten
CORAL BAY, U.S. Virgin Islands - Sharon Coldren, standing on the balcony of the Coral Bay Community Council building, raised a megaphone to give a warning to about 100 of her fellow islanders.
"There are tropical storms on the way that could become hurricanes," she said to a crowd gathered Saturday outside the town hall. Evacuate, she said. Their last chance to leave their island of St. John would probably be a free ferry the next day to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Even the military deployed to aid disaster relief left St. John ahead of the storm to avoid being stranded. The entire island was still largely without power, running water and phone service. Gasoline was rationed by the National Park Service.
"We don't know what kind of help we're getting from the government," Coldren said after the meeting, and acknowledged that many islanders wouldn't flee, even the sick and
