The reopening of the Cyril King airport in St. Thomas is on hold. The facility had tentatively planned on reopening Sept. 18 for limited commercial flights, but that was canceled due to the approach of Hurricane Maria, which was expected to impact the area on late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
The opening had already been postponed from an original target of Sept. 16, as rain over the weekend hampered repairs to the airport roof, and TSA security measures were not yet in place, nor was the bomb detection equipment in working order, according to U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp.
A territory-wide curfew had been lifted slightly over the weekend to enable workers to continue clearing debris.
In Maria's line of sight this time for the USVI is St. Croix, since Maria is on a track a bit south of St. Thomas. St. Croix is 40 miles south of St. Thomas.
Many tourists who were on St. Thomas during Hurricane Irma had already been evacuated by cruise ships and ferries to St. Croix or Puerto Rico. But a humanitarian mission from Carnival Cruise Line to St. Thomas on Tuesday has been postponed due to Maria, according to Beverly Nicholson-Doty, commissioner of tourism.
American Airlines operated a mercy flight from St. Croix to Miami Sept. 18 for residents and visitors evacuated from St. Thomas. Priority was given to people with medical needs, the elderly and women with children.
Hotels in Puerto Rico were working on Monday to evacuate guests out of the San Juan airport because the island is in the direct eye of the storm, expected sometime Tuesday.