Frustrated Residents Criticize Delays : Supplies Reach St. Croix; Calm Returns

The first trickle of relief supplies hit this dazed, storm ravaged Caribbean island Saturday, but residents complained that bureaucratic bungling, hysterical reports of violence and government indifference had worsened the plight of thousands of people left homeless and hungry by Hurricane Hugo.

“It’s too little, too late,” said the Rev. John O’Toole, a Roman Catholic priest, as emergency shipments of food, water and bedding landed on military transports--six days after the killer storm flattened most homes on the island and triggered a wave of panicked looting.

Little of the aid had been distributed, but Red Cross officials said it would soon find its way to those in need. “From Monday on, you’re going to see a lot of help,” promised Jerry Nicholson, a Red Cross official from St. Thomas dispatched here to help organize relief efforts.

Many Frustrated

Despite that promise, many residents were clearly frustrated by what they considered the misplaced priorities of government officials who moved quickly to dispatch military troops and law enforcement officers to quell disturbances but appeared to drag their feet on sending basic necessities.

“Instead of bringing food and help, they bring troops in to fight the people,” said a taxi driver who identified himself only as Bedasie. “That seems so stupid.”

Evelyn Crittendon, vice chairman of the St. Croix chapter of the Red Cross, claimed federal officials overreacted to exaggerated tales of mob looting, sending in troops long before food and water.

“I’m sure if you go to South Carolina right now, you’re going to find looting,” she said. “Because a few nasty people broke into things, the whole of St. Croix is suffering. It hurt us, it hurt us hard.”

Others complained that what little aid has been available, has been mishandled and that local officials were alarmingly slow in requesting outside assistance.

“The governor (Alexander Farrelly) waited too long to ask for help, everybody’s criticizing him for that,” said O’Toole, “ . . . we have people coming in looking for food and all we have left to give them is a can of soup and some juice.”

Sense of Calm

Despite widespread frustration, a sense of calm has returned to St. Croix, until this week a lush, 82-square-mile Caribbean oasis best known as a getaway spot for rich jet setters.

Looting has stopped. A local radio station has returned to the air to provide the first source of information for residents since the storm hit, and a jury-rigged telephone link with the outside world is expected to be in limited service by the beginning of the week.

And, according to Godfrey De Castro the territory’s attorney general, many of the about 200 convicts who escaped from the island’s prison after the hurricane blew down security fences have either been apprehended or have turned themselves in after an unauthorized furlough with their families.

However, officials say it may be weeks or, more likely, months before power and water service can be restored.

In San Juan, Puerto Rico, a congressional delegation arrived Saturday and said there would be an investigation into the delays in getting emergency federal assistance to the islands of the Caribbean.

The delegation, which included Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr., planned to go on to the Virgin Islands today and return to Washington late in the day.

Damage Assessment

Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), the delegation’s leader, said the first goal of the trip was to assess the damage to the area. But Miller said there also was “deep concern that there have been unnecessary delays” in getting aid to island residents.

On St. Croix, though help may be on the way, some residents say they are not optimistic that it will be sufficient to meet pressing needs and several say they are shipping their families to relatives on other islands or the U.S. mainland.

“Things are going to get worse before they get better,” said Julio Coto, 43. “I fear for the health of my children and they need to go to school.”

Estimates are still sketchy, but officials have counted at least four deaths and more than 700 injuries now blamed on the violent storm, which socked the island with the full fury of its 140-m.p.h. winds.

Lt. Gov. Derek Hodge told reporters that damages to homes, roads, power lines, water systems and other vital services, could total in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Even worse is the damage to tourism, by far the island’s number one industry. “For this year, the tourism season is wiped out,” said Rafael Jackson, general manager of the Virgin Islands division of tourism.

Just as they are struggling to assess the damage from Hugo, Crucians, as they call themselves, are also struggling to explain the fury that tourists and more affluent white residents said was unleashed after the storm when roving bands of looters reportedly ransacked shops across the island.

While rampant looting did take place, many natives insist that there was little violence associated with it and reports of machete wielding vandals and automatic weapons fire were greatly exaggerated.

“The white residents of the island overreacted,” Jackson insisted. “Maybe it’s normal in a situation like this where a majority of the people (on the island) are black.”

Increasing Resentment

Indeed, despite St. Croix’s idyllic image, some residents say that natives have become increasingly resentful of the economic and social changes wrought by the tourism boom here over the last two decades.

Thousands of affluent whites have moved from the U.S. mainland, driving up housing and food prices, taking over businesses and bringing some of their racial prejudices with them. Meanwhile, thousands of people from other West Indies islands have moved here to take over service jobs at resorts.

“This is a culture that in some ways is unsettled because there are so many new ingredients,” De Castro explained.

Many natives, most of whom are black, have been cut out of the largess and bristle at frequent lectures from newcomers about how they should improve their lot.

“The native Virgin Islander is mad as hell,” said J. Robert Smith, a retired newspaperman and former government official in St. Croix. “The development boom has been going on for a few years. But the natives can’t afford the hotels, the natives can’t afford their prices for a meal. Where does that leave the natives?”

With the growing influx of outsiders, St. Croix and the other islands in the Virgin Island chain have been afflicted with drug and crime problems similar to those on the mainland. Crack, cocaine and other narcotics are widely available and gang activity is on the upswing. “Now this place has become an appreciable drug transshipment center,” said De Castro.

Christina Henry, who has raised five children over the past 17 years at a public housing project within view of a posh condominium complex, said the island has little to offer young blacks.

“The jail is full of young men,” she said. “Drugs are the only way on this island to make a living.”