Story ID: 
Maria Leaves Her Mark on St. Croix
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: With widespread damage from the latest storm, St. Croix and its airport look to restore normal operations.
Word Count: 167
While St. Croix avoided much of Hurricane Irma’s fury, that U.S. Virgin Island was not spared by Hurricane Maria, which caused major damage to infrastructure. Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (STX) and its 10,000-foot runway, which had been acting as a hub for relief and rescue flights to hard-hit neighboring islands, was forced to shut down ahead of Maria’s approach. It resumed activity on Thursday but is not expected to reopen to commercial traffic until early October due to damage to its facilities, as well as disruption to regional ATC equipment based in Puerto Rico.

Bohlke International Airways, the lone FBO at STX, which also runs a charter operation, evacuated most staff and aircraft to Curacao before the hurricane hit. Upon their return, the FBO was discovered to have suffered serious damage, but its Part 145 repair facility was unscathed, as were its 150,000-gallon fuel farm and eight fuel trucks. Bohlke expects to resume charter operations from the airport over the weekend.