<P> In September 2017, two weeks after Hurricane Irma hit St. Thomas and St. John while a Category 5 hurricane, Hurricane Maria's weaker outer eyewall was reported by the National Hurricane Center to have crossed St. Croix while the hurricane was at Category 5 intensity . Sustained winds at the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge on St. Croix reached 99 to 104 mph (159 to 167 km / h) and gusted to 137 mph (220 km / h). Weather stations on St. Croix recorded 5 and 10 inches of rain from the hurricane, and estimates for St. John and St. Thomas were somewhat less . </P> <P> The hurricane killed two people, both in their homes: one person drowned and another was trapped by a mudslide . A third person had a fatal heart attack during the hurricane . The hurricane caused extensive and severe damage to St. Croix . After both hurricanes, the office of V.I. congresswoman Stacey Plaskett stated that 90% of buildings in the Virgin Islands were damaged or destroyed and 13,000 of those buildings had lost their roofs . The Luis Hospital suffered roof damage and flooding, but remained operational . </P> <P> The U.S. Virgin Islands are in the Atlantic Ocean, about 40 miles (60 km) east of Puerto Rico and immediately west of the British Virgin Islands . They share the Virgin Islands Archipelago with the Puerto Rican Virgin Islands of Vieques and Culebra (administered by Puerto Rico), and the British Virgin Islands . </P> <P> The territory consists of three main islands: St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, as well as several dozen smaller islands . The main islands have nicknames often used by locals: "Twin City" (St. Croix), "Rock City" (St. Thomas) and "Love City" (St. John). The combined land area of the islands is roughly twice the size of Washington, D.C. </P>

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