Virgin Islands Face Another Storm

Storm-weary residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands prepared Monday for Sebastien, the fourth major storm to pass through the region in less than two months.

Many residents already are living under blue plastic tarpaulins after their roofs blew away during Hurricane Marilyn last month, and predictions of more heavy rain and high winds sent them scurrying for cover.

“I’m so tired of this I could cry,” said St. John schoolteacher Jamie Hulse.

Holding a hammer and looking wearily at the sliding glass door in the back of her house, Hulse was debating whether to board up her home.

“There’s no place to stand because Marilyn already blew the deck away,” Hulse said.

Sebastien weakened Monday afternoon from a tropical storm into a tropical depression, although a tropical storm watch remained in effect.

The following fields overflowed: DATELINE = CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS