By Abby Ohlheiser, The Washington Post

The last message Michelle Pickering heard from her mother on Tortola terrified her: “The porch roof fly off,” she said in a text. It was 12:58 p.m. on Wednesday, and the worst of Irma was about to hit the island where she grew up.

Pickering couldn’t sleep that night. In the morning, there was still nothing from her mother or her stepfather. “I tried calling my mom’s number about 20 times,” she said by phone on Friday from Georgia, where she now lives. “It’s nothing, just ringing and ringing and ringing.” Until Irma, Pickering spoke with her mother every day.

“I’m just devastated,” she said. “I’m terrified. What a way to end a text.”

Slowly, Pickering heard from one sibling on the island, and then another. Each said the island was destroyed, and it would be impossible for them to get to her mother’s house, which was on top of a hill in Cane Garden Bay, a different part of the island. So Pickering turned to Facebook to see if someone, anyone, had seen her mother.

“I’m looking for Ishmael Harrigan and wife in Cane Garden Bay on the hill. Please, please . . . help me. I’m worried!,” she wrote. She was crying as she wrote it, but it felt good, in a way, to try to do something.

Her message was posted to a quickly-growing Facebook group, “”BVI Abroad – Hurricane Irma” where family members and friends with relatives in the British Virgin Islands were trying the best they could to get and share information. In the days after Irma hit, some heard short messages from their loved ones on Tortola. But for many, there has been only an eerie silence.

In 2017, we often take our ability to communicate instantly with each other for granted. Facebook allows us to peer through the baby pictures of near strangers from college with whom we are somehow still “friends.” Its Live map is an effortless facilitator of global lurking: Just pick a country, pull up a feed and get a real-time view into a stranger’s life. This connectivity helped to drive rescue efforts in Texas in the aftermath of Harvey. But when Irma hit the Caribbean, its physical damage to the islands came paired with a near total-destruction of access to the technology that makes this possible.

As reports of the devastation on islands like Tortola or St. Thomas, or Barbuda and St. Martin trickled out, those abroad began to scour the Internet for clues of their loved ones – or for people who might be able to help them get some news.

– – –

Rob Browne was supposed to leave St. Thomas, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, on Thursday. He lives near Boston; the trip to St. Thomas was a short family vacation. When Irma hit, he was as lucky as someone could get trapped on a tropical island during a catastrophic storm. The house he’d rented was made of sturdy poured concrete, on top of a hill. And when the storm passed, he realized he was even luckier: His phone was getting access to data, enough to update his family and friends with a brief Facebook live. The connection was spotty, but it worked just well enough.

It also gave him bragging rights. He and his wife work for competing telecommunications companies. It was his company – AT&T – that still had a signal there.

Browne didn’t know it at the time, but he was one of the only people able to broadcast live from St. Thomas in the first hours after Irma did its worst. It didn’t take long for those abroad, looking for information on loved ones who were on the island, to find his stream.

“What side of the island are you on Rob? I’m looking for my Mom and stepdad on the South side near Bolongo Bay,” one comment on his Live video read.

Another: ” Rob – are you near the Beachcomber Hotel near airport? Looking for friends husband who manages the hotel.”

And another: “Rob what side are you Im looking for my nephews they are in the south side in the Antilles School zone in Hawk hill rd please if you know somethig for that area i will reaally appreciate.”

Others sent him private messages, dozens of them, asking for help tracking down silent friends and relatives. He did what he could to help. “We had one guy down the street, his family was reaching out because he’s on dialysis,” Browne said in a phone interview on Friday (the man was OK). Some people just needed someone to talk to, so he did that too, as he and his teenage son began clearing the road outside their home of debris.

Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images A photo taken on Sept. 7, 2017 shows damage in Orient Bay on the French Carribean island of Saint-Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma. France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 rushed to provide water, emergency rations and rescue teams to territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, with aid efforts complicated by damage to local airports and harbours. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirmed four people were killed and 50 more injured.

Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press A woman carries her grandmother away from her home which was flooded by rains brought on by Hurricane Irma, in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, Friday Sept. 8, 2017. Irma rolled past the Dominican Republic and Haiti and battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday with waves as high as 20 feet (6 meters).

Hector Retamal, AFP/Getty Images Debris and trash is seen on a beach in Cap-Haitien on Sept. 7, 2017, as Hurricane Irma approaches. Irma was packing maximum sustained winds of up to 185 mph (295 kph) as it followed a projected path that would see it hit the northern edges of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Thursday, continuing past eastern Cuba before veering north for Florida.



Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press A boy sits on wall near his home flooded by heavy rains brought on by Hurricane Irma, in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. Irma rolled past the Dominican Republic and Haiti and battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday with waves as high as 20 feet (6 meters).

Curtis Compton, Atlanta Journal-Constitution via The Associated Press A fleet of utility trucks head south along Interstate 71 toward the Georgia coast, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, in Griffin, Ga., in preparation for Hurricane Irma. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press Lucita Leonce 71, complains in front of her home flooded by heavy rains brought on by Hurricane Irma, in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, Friday Sept. 8, 2017. Irma rolled past the Dominican Republic and Haiti and battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday with waves as high as 20 feet (6 meters).



NASA, NOAA GOES Project via Getty Images In this NASA/NOAA handout image, NOAA's GOES satellite shows Hurricane Irma (C) in the Caribbean Sea, Tropical Storm Jose (R) in the Atlantic Ocean and Tropical Storm Katia in the Gulf of Mexico taken at 15:45 UTC on Sept. 08, 2017. Hurricane Irma barreled through the Turks and Caicos Islands as a category 4 storm en route to a destructive encounter with Florida this weekend.

Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images A picture taken on Sept. 7, 2017 shows inhabitants of the Sandy town neighborhood clearing off wreckages in a street in Marigot on the French Carribean island of Saint-Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma.

Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images Hundreds of people gather in an emergency shelter at the Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center in Miami, Florida, Sept. 8, 2017, ahead of Hurricane Irma. Florida Governor Rick Scott warned that all of the state's 20 million inhabitants should be prepared to evacuate as Hurricane Irma bears down for a direct hit on the southern US state.



Hector Retamal, AFP/Getty Images People sit on a tree next to a flooded river, in the north east of Haiti, on Sept. 8, 2017, during the passage of Hurricane Irma. Irma has been downgraded to a Category Four hurricane but is still extremely dangerous, the National Hurricane Center said.

Osvaldo Gutierrez Gomez, ACN via The Associated Press Handlers from the Cayo Guillermo dolphinarium prepare dolphins for their transfer to the dolphinarium in Cienfuegos, located on Cuba's southern coast, just hours before the arrival of Hurricane Irma, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. Irma spun along the northern coast of Cuba, where thousands of tourists were evacuated from low-lying keys off the coast dotted with all-inclusive resorts. Irma has left at least 20 people dead and thousands homeless on a devastated string of Caribbean islands. (Osvaldo Gutierrez Gomez/ACN via AP)

Hector Retamal, AFP/Getty Images file People walk in a street that was flooded in Malfeti, in Fort Liberte, Haiti, on Sept. 8, 2017, during the passage of Hurricane Irma.



Facebook / Carole Greaux / Restricted To Editorial Use - Mandatory Credit "afp Photo / Facebook / Carole Greaux " - No Marketing No Advertising Campaigns - Distributed As A Service To Clients Carole Greaux, AFP/Getty Images This handout picture released on the Facebook account of Carole Greaux on Sept. 6, 2017 shows a flooded street in Gustavia, on the French administered territory of Saint Barthelemy, during the passage of Hurricane Irma. Hurricane Irma ripped through the Caribbean, with its violent winds and torrential rains leaving a trail of devastation and killing 12 as it barreled towards the United States where up to a million people were told to flee.

Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images A photo taken on Sept. 7, 2017 shows damage in Orient Bay on the French Carribean island of Saint-Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma. France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 rushed to provide water, emergency rations and rescue teams to territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, with aid efforts complicated by damage to local airports and harbours. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirmed four people were killed and 50 more injured.

Amy Beth Bennett, South Florida Sun Sentinel via The Associated Press Carol Schumacher, who plans to ride out Hurricane Irma with her husband, Bob, and dog Casey, sits in a lawn chair in the front yard of her Lauderdale-By-The-Sea home as her husband finishes up hurricane preparations Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, in Pompano Beach, Fla. ( Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)



Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images TOPSHOT - A photo taken on Sept. 7, 2017 shows damage in Orient Bay on the French Carribean island of Saint-Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma. France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 rushed to provide water, emergency rations and rescue teams to territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, with aid efforts complicated by damage to local airports and harbours. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirmed four people were killed and 50 more injured.

Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images TOPSHOT - People look at damage on Sept. 7, 2017, in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on the island of Saint-Martin in the northeast Caribbean, after the passage of Hurricane Irma. France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to their stricken territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, which has killed at least 10 people. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where eight of the 10 confirmed deaths took place.

Ian Brown, The Associated Press In this image made from video shows a damage to a post office caused by Hurricane Irma in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017. Hurricane Irma weakened slightly Thursday with sustained winds of 175 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm boasted 185 mph winds for a more than 24-hour period, making it the strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. The storm was expected to arrive in Cuba by Friday. It could hit the Florida mainland by late Saturday, according to hurricane center models.



Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press Personal papers and notebooks recovered from a flooded home are spread out on a cot in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. Irma rolled past the Dominican Republic and Haiti and battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday with waves as high as 20 feet (6 meters).

Mike Stocker, South Florida Sun Sentinel via The Associated Press A homeowner in Dania Beach, Fla., has a stern warning painted on his boarded up window Friday, Sept. 7, 2017, ahead of Hurricane Irma.

Anika E. Kentish, The Associated Press In this Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, photo, damage is left after Hurricane Irma hit Barbuda. Hurricane Irma battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday as the fearsome Category 5 storm continued a rampage through the Caribbean that has killed a number of people, with Florida in its sights.



Anp / Gerben Van Es / Netherlands Out / Restricted To Editorial Use - Mandatory Credit "afp Photo / Dutch Defense Ministry/gerben Van Es" - No Marketing No Advertising Campaigns - No Archives - No Sale- Distributed As A Service To Clients Gerben Van Es, AFP/Getty Images An aerial photography taken and released by the Dutch department of Defense on Sept. 6, 2017 shows the damage of Hurricane Irma in Philipsburg, on the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Maarten. Hurricane Irma sowed a trail of deadly devastation through the Caribbean on Wednesday, reducing to rubble the tropical islands of Barbuda and St Martin.

Jonathan Falwell via The Associated Press This Sept. 6, 2017 photo shows storm damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in St. Martin. Irma cut a path of devastation across the northern Caribbean, leaving thousands homeless after destroying buildings and uprooting trees. Significant damage was reported on the island known as St. Martin in English which is divided between French Saint-Martin and Dutch Sint Maarten.

Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images A photo taken on Sept. 6, 2017 shows broken palm trees on the beach of the Hotel Mercure in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on the French Collectivity of Saint Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma. France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to their stricken territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, which has killed at least 10 people. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where eight of the 10 confirmed deaths took place.



Ricardo Arduengo, AFP/Getty Images A woman pulls a travel case on a rock scattered road in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 7, 2017. One of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, the rare Category 5 hurricane churned westward off the northern coast of Puerto Rico early Thursday on a potential collision course with south Florida, where at-risk areas were evacuated.

Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images A photo taken on Sept. 7, 2017 shows ships wrecked ashore, in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on the island of Saint-Martin in the northeast Caribbean, after the passage of Hurricane Irma. France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to their stricken territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, which has killed at least 10 people. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where eight of the 10 confirmed deaths took place.

Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images A photo taken on Sept. 6, 2017 shows the Hotel Mercure in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on the French Collectivity of Saint Martin, during the passage of Hurricane Irma. France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to their stricken territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, which has killed at least 10 people. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where eight of the 10 confirmed deaths took place.



Hector Retamal, AFP/Getty Images The Desir family wait next to their house as they prepare to go to a shelter to await the arrival of Hurricane Irma, in Cap-Haitien, on Sept. 7, 2017. Irma was expected to hit the northern edges of the Dominican Republic and Haiti later Thursday, continuing past eastern Cuba before veering north towards Florida.

Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images A photo taken on Sept. 6, 2017 shows cars piled on top of one another in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on the French Collectivity of Saint Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma. France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to their stricken territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, which has killed at least 10 people. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where eight of the 10 confirmed deaths took place.

AFP Photos/Dutch Defense Ministry/Gerben Van Es An aerial photograph taken and released by the Dutch Department of Defense on Sept. 6, 2017 shows the damage of Hurricane Irma, on the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Maarten.



Tatiana Fernandez, The Associated Press A home is surrounded by debris brought in by Hurricane Irma in Nagua, Dominican Republic, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017. Irma cut a path of devastation across the northern Caribbean, leaving thousands homeless after destroying buildings and uprooting trees. Irma flooded parts of the Dominican Republic when it roared by Thursday, just off the northern coast of the island it shares with Haiti.

Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel via The Associated Press Tyrone Tomlinson, 27, of Orlando, uses a family wheelchair to ferry sandbags to be used on the front porch of their family home in Orlando, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, as residents prepare for Hurricane Irma. Long lines of vehicles waited for hours to get a 10 sand bag limit at the City of Orlando Public Works.

Marta Lavandier, The Associated Press Max Garcia, of Miami, waits in a line since dawn to purchase plywood sheets at The Home Depot store in North Miami, Fla., Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. Florida residents are preparing for the possible landfall of Hurricane Irma, the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history.



Al Diaz, Miami Herald via The Associated Press Traffic is seen heading North along the Florida Turnpike near Homestead, Fla., as tourists in the Florida Keys leave town on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. Heavy rain and 185-mph winds lashed the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico's northeast coast Wednesday as Hurricane Irma roared through Caribbean islands on its way to a possible hit on South Florida. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald via AP)

Rinsy Zieng, AFP/Getty Images A handout grab image made from a video released on Sept. 6, 2017 by RCI Guadeloupe shows flooded streets and damage on the French overseas island of Saint-Martin, filmed from a terrace of the Beach Plaza hotel after high winds from Hurricane Irma hit the island. Monster Hurricane Irma slammed into Caribbean islands today after making landfall in Barbuda, packing ferocious winds and causing major flooding in low-lying areas. As the rare Category Five storm barreled its way across the Caribbean, it brought gusting winds of up to 185 miles per hour , weather experts said.

Joe Raedle, Getty Images A sign in a business reads, 'Go Home Irma Youre Drunk,' as people prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6, 2017 in Miami, Florida. It's still too early to know where the direct impact of the hurricane will take place but the state of Florida is in the area of possible landfall.



Carlos Giusti, The Associated Press Joshua Alicea, rescue staff member from the Municipal Emergency Management Agency removes a fallen tree while touring the streets of the Matelnillo community searching for citizens in distress during the passage of Hurricane Irma through the northeastern part of the island in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. The US territory was first to declare a state of emergency las Monday, as the National Hurricane Center forecast that the storm would strike the Island Wednesday.

Emily Michot, Miami Herald via The Associated Press A gas station has their windows boarded as gas was still flowing at the station on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017 in Miami. Heavy rain and 185-mph winds lashed the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico's northeast coast Wednesday as Hurricane Irma roared through Caribbean islands on its way to a possible hit on South Florida.

Rinsy Zieng, AFP/Getty Images A handout picture released on Sept. 6, 2017 on the twitter accound of RCI Guadeloupe shows a flooded street on the French overseas island of Saint-Martin, after high winds from Hurricane Irma hit the island. Monster Hurricane Irma slammed into Caribbean islands today after making landfall in Barbuda, packing ferocious winds and causing major flooding in low-lying areas. As the rare Category Five storm barreled its way across the Caribbean, it brought gusting winds of up to 185 miles per hour , weather experts said.



Michele Eve Sandberg, AFP/Getty Images Empty shelves are seen as people make Hurricane Irma preparations at a Winn Dixie store in South Florida on Sept. 6, 2017 in Hallandale, Florida. Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, cut a deadly swath through a string of small Caribbean islands on Wednesday and was on a collision course with Puerto Rico and potentially south Florida.

Hector Retamal, AFP/Getty Images A man watches while a bulldozer clean debris in a canal, in Cap-Haitien, on Sept. 6, 2017, 240 km from Port-au-Prince, as preparatives before the arrival of Hurricane Irma. Some people in Cap-Haitien still do not have information on the arrival of Hurricane Irma and many others do not know what to do or where to go to take shelter.

Jose Jimenez, Getty Images A street is flooded during the passing of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6, 2017 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. The category 5 storm is expected to pass over Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands today, and make landfall in Florida by the weekend.



Marc Serota, Getty Images Three men install hurricane shutters at the Made 2 Order Restuarant in Islamorada, Florida on Sept. 6, 2017. The storm has grown to a category 5 and is expected to make landfall in the Florida Keys this weekend.

Mark Wilson, Getty Images A concessioner worker realizes he loading too many lounge chairs on his cart during preparations for approaching Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6, 2016 in Miami Beach, Florida. Current tracks for Hurricane Irma shows that it could hit south Florida this weekend.

Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel via The Associated Press Drivers wait in line for gasoline in Altamonte Springs, Fla., ahead of the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Irma, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. Irma roared into the Caribbean with record force early Wednesday, its 185-mph winds shaking homes and flooding buildings on a chain of small islands along a path toward Puerto Rico, Cuba and Hispaniola and a possible direct hit on densely populated South Florida.



Carlos Giusti, The Associated Press A man drives through rain and strong winds during the passage of hurricane Irma, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. The US territory was first to declare a state of emergency las Monday, as the National Hurricane Center forecast that the storm would strike the Island Wednesday.

Johnny Jno-Baptiste, The Associated Press A man surveys the wreckage on his property after the passing of Hurricane Irma, in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. Heavy rain and 185-mph winds lashed the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico's northeast coast as Irma, the strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever measured, roared through Caribbean islands on its way to a possible hit on South Florida.

Helene Valenzuela, AFP/Getty Images Passengers wait to check in at the departures terminal of the Pole Caraibes international airport in Pointe-a-Pitre, which re-opened on Sept. 6, 2017, after hurricane Irma hit the island. Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, cut a deadly swath through a string of small Caribbean islands on Wednesday and was on a collision course with Puerto Rico and potentially south Florida.



Yanelis Gomez pushes her cart after shopping at a local supermarket as she prepares for Hurricane Irma, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, in Hialeah, Fla. Hurricane Irma grew into a dangerous Category 5 storm, the most powerful seen in the Atlantic in over a decade, and roared toward islands in the northeast Caribbean Tuesday on a path that could eventually take it to the United States.

NOAA via AP In this GOES-East satellite image taken Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017 at 3:45 p.m. EDT, and released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Irma, a potentially catastrophic category 5 hurricane, moves westward in the Atlantic Ocean toward the Leeward Islands. Hurricane Irma grew into a dangerous Category 5 storm, the most powerful seen in the Atlantic in over a decade, and roared toward islands in the northeast Caribbean Tuesday on a path that could eventually take it to the United States.

Lara Cerri, Tampa Bay Times via AP Joseph, Jr., right, 15, of St. Petersburg, bends down to carry sandbags to his family's vehicle at Lealman Community Park, in St. Petersburg, Fla., Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, as residents prepare for Hurricane Irma.



Joe Raedle, Getty Images People line up to get their propane tanks filled as they prepare for Hurricane Irma on Sept. 5, 2017 in Miami, Florida. It's still too early to know where the direct impact of the hurricane will take place but the state of Florida is in the area of possible landfall.

Ricardo Arduengo, AFP/Getty Images Workers from a hardware store secure plywoods on top of a car as hurricane Irma approaches Puerto Rico in Bayamon, on Sept. 5, 2017. In Puerto Rico, a US territory of 3.5 million, Governor Ricardo Rossello activated the National Guard and announced the opening of storm shelters able to house up to 62,000 people. The major of the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto, ordered 900 municipal employees -- police, emergency personnel, and aid and social workers -- to report for rotating 12-hour shifts.Even if Puerto Rico is spared a direct hit, the mayor said, three days of pounding rain will do heavy damage.

Carlos Giusti, The Associated Press Cyber School Supply Christopher Rodriguez is supported as he installs wood panels over a storefront window in preparation for Hurricane Irma, in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017. Irma grew into a dangerous Category 5 storm, the most powerful seen in the Atlantic in over a decade, and roared toward islands in the northeast Caribbean Tuesday.



Ricardo Arduengo, AFP/Getty Images Islata Marina cay is seen as hurricane Irma approaches Puerto Rico in Fajardo, on Sept. 5, 2017. In Puerto Rico, a US territory of 3.5 million, Governor Ricardo Rossello activated the National Guard and announced the opening of storm shelters able to house up to 62,000 people. The major of the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto, ordered 900 municipal employees -- police, emergency personnel, and aid and social workers -- to report for rotating 12-hour shifts.Even if Puerto Rico is spared a direct hit, the mayor said, three days of pounding rain will do heavy damage.

Ricardo Arduengo, AFP/Getty Images Boats are seen docked at a marina as hurricane Irma approaches Puerto Rico in Fajardo, on Sept. 5, 2017. In Puerto Rico, a US territory of 3.5 million, Governor Ricardo Rossello activated the National Guard and announced the opening of storm shelters able to house up to 62,000 people. The major of the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto, ordered 900 municipal employees -- police, emergency personnel, and aid and social workers -- to report for rotating 12-hour shifts.Even if Puerto Rico is spared a direct hit, the mayor said, three days of pounding rain will do heavy damage.

Helene Valenzuela, AFP/Getty Images A firefighter helps a sailor to secure the anchoring of his boat on Sept. 4, 2017 at the harbour in Pointe-a-Pitre, on the French overseas island of Guadeloupe, as part of preparations for arrival of Hurricane Irma.



Ricardo Arduengo, AFP/Getty Images Workers install storm shutters as hurricane Irma approaches Puerto Rico in Fajardo, on Sept. 5, 2017. In Puerto Rico, a US territory of 3.5 million, Governor Ricardo Rossello activated the National Guard and announced the opening of storm shelters able to house up to 62,000 people. The major of the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto, ordered 900 municipal employees -- police, emergency personnel, and aid and social workers -- to report for rotating 12-hour shifts.Even if Puerto Rico is spared a direct hit, the mayor said, three days of pounding rain will do heavy damage.

Helene Valenzuela, AFP/Getty Images People queue at a supermarket as they buy goods as part of preparations ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 5, 2017, in the French overseas island of Guadeloupe. Irma picked up strength and has become an "extremely dangerous" Category Five hurricane as it approached the Caribbean on September 5, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported. The monster hurricane, the most powerful of the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, is about 270 miles east of the island of Antigua packing maximum sustained winds of 175 miles (280 kilometers) per hour.

Browne is a stranger to the island, but his spotty access to the Internet has helped him become a vital conduit for those looking for information on nearby families. When he gets a request, Browne pulls up the Waze app and looks to see how far the address in question is from his own. If he can get there, he tries. But the roads are blocked anywhere past a quarter mile from the house.

He can’t do much to help with many of the requests – people looking for news from the south side of the island, or even from one of the damaged houses across the water that he can see from the balcony of his rental. Just as those abroad are cut off from the island, the people on St. Thomas are similarly cut off from each other.

“I had a false sense of security,” Browne said. “We have phones, social media. When a storm like this hits, we’re back to very basic, neighbor-to-neighbor passing along information. It’s the old telephone game,” he said. There’s little concrete information in those passed-along messages. Many are rumors. He tries to be careful with what he tells the thousands who now watch his regular Live videos – he wouldn’t want to spread a message that was wrong.

– – –

Facebook has a feature – Safety Check – designed for situations like Irma, allowing people in the immediate area of a disaster to “check in” as safe. But Irma had turned the islands back to a different era of communication: one before cellphones, when if the landlines were down you were out of luck.

So the administrators of “BVI Abroad – Hurricane Irma” created their own. On the islands hit by Irma, sometimes it was a stranger with a lucky connection who would know first whether a loved one was okay. The BVI Safety Check database has thousands of entries, some marked safe, some still looking for information.

One of the administrators of the Facebook group is Jenny Ruffell Smith, who grew up in the British Virgin Islands but now lives in Australia. Her mother, niece and older brother live on the islands. In the lead-up to Irma, they were in constant communication about the logistics of preparing for the storm. After Irma hit, Smith heard nothing for 24 hours.

“You want to be positive and hope for the best, but at the same time you’re also thinking the worst and feeling absolutely helpless half a world away from everything you know and love,” Smith said in an interview over Facebook Messenger. “I have never wanted to speak to my Mum as much as I do now.”

The first messages came from her brother and niece, through a group family chat on WhatsApp:

“Hi all only have WiFi for a second,” her niece wrote. “We had a major hit. Island looks destroyed from here. But mum Zach and I are safe.”

Her brother wrote: “Alive just. Total devastation. Lost everything.”

Later, she heard about her mother from a stranger who went door-to-door in her neighborhood checking on each house. The stranger found Smith on Facebook, and sent her a message, letting her know her mother was okay. Many hours later, her mother was able to send a text herself.

Others, like Pickering, are closely monitoring every feed from their home islands for information. Pickering figured out that people on Tortola were making their way to the two spots on the island that had WiFi to connect with the outside world. There’s a spot in Road Town, and another outside of a telecommunications building. She views messages coming in from these places, hoping to spot someone who might know her mom or live nearby.

“If you know that they live next to somebody that you know, you ask them, ‘hey is so and so okay?’,” she said. But this process takes time, which Pickering fears she does not have. Another hurricane, Jose, is approaching.

“Jose is said to be on its way by Saturday. Tomorrow!” she said. “And it’s yesterday that people started to find out that they were okay.”







