Nature’s Grace and Fury | By - Mari Erlich
Photo Location: St. John
Photo Description: Standing on a hillside in St. John in June 2019, the view was a striking contrast of resilience and ruin. The Caribbean Sea shimmered in shades of turquoise, impossibly calm and inviting, as if unaware of the chaos that had come less than two years earlier. But just beyond the gentle surf, the skeletal remains of beachfront villas still stood—roofless, gutted, and silent. These ruins were the work of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which tore through the Virgin Islands in September 2017 with catastrophic force. Irma’s Category 5 winds shredded buildings and stripped the island bare, and Maria followed days later, delivering another brutal blow. The peaceful shoreline in 2019, bathed in sunlight, made the destruction feel even more surreal—a quiet witness to the enduring power of nature, both to devastate and to restore.
Category: Caribbean Nature & the People Who Love It