866 St Croix residents leave for US on 'Mercy Mission' cruise ship
FREDERIKSTED, St Croix, USVI- St Croix, US Virgin Islands (USVI) residents lined the Frederiksted Pier on Friday morning, September 29, 2017 waiting to board Royal Caribbean’s Adventures of the Seas cruise ship on a “mercy mission” trip to Florida. Over 860 persons were accommodated, according to Governor Kenneth E. Mapp.
Mr Mapp announced that the 866 people on St Croix were accommodated as part of the government’s “mercy mission” voyages. The ship left the Frederiksted dock at 5:00 PM and headed to St Thomas, where it will accommodate more persons before making a two-day trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Once there, mercy mission passengers are to make their own way.
In a press conference on Monday, October 2, 2017 to be held in St Thomas, Attorney General Claude Walker, along with the Medical Examiner’s Office, will reveal for the first time the identity of those who died as a result of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Mr Mapp said the death toll, once said to be 7, had been reduced to 5, following autopsy results.
While the governor expressed sympathy to the families of those who died, he lauded residents’ heeding of warnings to either prepare themselves or evacuate their homes, stating that the small number of deaths and trauma served as a testament to their preparation.
“I cannot say that it’s five [deaths] in two hurricanes without saying that that’s still — for the kind of winds that went through the V.I. and the kinds of destruction that we suffered, to lose five souls and to not have a lot of trauma — is amazing,” Mr Mapp said.
On a sad note, a Virgin Islands National Guard soldier was killed in St Thomas on Thursday, according to Adjutant General Deborah Howell. The soldier, Private First Class Kyjuan Naughton, 21, was killed in the Smith Bay area while off duty. Private Naughton joined the V.I. National Guard in December 2014 and served honorably with the 661st Military Police Detachment, according to Adjt. Gen. Howell. She relayed the news to Private Naughton’s family on Thursday, and said that, “It is the most difficult charge as a commander to relay the news of losing a service member.”
Private Naughton’s death has been deemed a homicide, and the V.I.P.D. along with its federal partners are investigating the incident. The governor, along with William Vogel, federal coordinating officer of FEMA Region II and V.I.P.D. Commissioner Delroy Richards, expressed condolences to Private Naughton’s family.
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