HurricaneIrma(2017)

HurricaneHugo(1989)

HurricaneMaria(2017)

Hurricanes

Hurricanes (1922-2022)

Important Storms

Data: NOAA

Hurricane Hugo served as a turning point on the island as disaster management methods and planning greatly increased after Hugo.

In 1989, Hurricane Hugo left a devastating path of destruction on the island, causing severe human and ecological loss.50 This served as a turning point on the island as disaster management methods and planning greatly increased after Hugo. However, these remedies would prove only a small step in the right direction as decades later in 2017, St. Croix was severely hit by a category 5 Hurricane Maria. Maria came right on the heels of another category 5 hurricane, Irma, where the neighboring Virgin Islands were devastated as well. Five years later, St. Croix is still recovering from the physical impacts of Maria. For example, homes still have blue tarps covering roofs and composite telephone poles are still being installed. That said, St. Croix fared rather well in managing the population’s safety with few fatalities; this is due to preparations after Hugo.

Another major event that has impacted the island is the COVID-19 pandemic. Surprising to some, St. Croix emerged as a newfound tourism hot spot as many Americans could not travel outside of borders. Tourism increased significantly between 2019 (640,887 visitors) and 2021 (738,040 visitors).51 While this is beneficial from an economic development perspective, it has not been as generous for the health of islanders. Hurricane Maria left the only hospital on St. Croix in disrepair, additionally a history of mistrust made it difficult to persuade the public to opt into taking the vaccine. Thus, the vaccination rate for the island is relatively low (55% compared to 81% in Puerto Rico), meaning that with every tourist, there is higher risk for residents to get sick and a limited number of resources to treat them.52

Hurricanes Irma and Maria decimated the hospitals on St. Croix and St. Thomas in 2017, requiring them to be torn down and rebuilt, which left them weak and exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

$140 million in annual tax revenue lost

The final major event was the volatile closing of the HOVENSA / Limetree Bay Refinery in 2012 and again in 2021. Prior to its closure, the refinery was the largest employer on the island. The refinery closed due to EPA violations and a tragic acid rain incident that polluted the island’s aquifers.53 While the closure of the refinery may be beneficial to the environment, it slashed USVI exports by 50%, lost 2K jobs, and $140M in annual tax revenue. The island is still recovering from the economic loss of the refinery.

From this report’s analysis, we have identified these major events as contributing factors in St. Croix’s population loss. From 2010, St. Croix has lost 19% of its population base — mirroring the population decline the entire USVI is seeing.54 While these three events cannot be the sole causes for the observed population loss, they did have a significant impact on the population.