Governor Kenneth Mapp has renewed the declaration of a state of emergency for the U.S. Virgin Islands in an official order, a Government House release made known late Wednesday.
The proclamation renews the territory’s state of emergency declaration, which was initially declared effective September 5, through January 4, 2018, unless earlier lifted or extended.
A state of emergency empowers a government to perform actions that it would normally not be allowed to. A government can declare a state of emergency during a disaster, civil unrest, or armed conflict. In September 2016, Lieutenant Governor Osbert Potter, then-acting governor, declared a state of emergency following a surge in gun violence that was rocking St. Croix in particular.
With the USVI still in active recovery mode, the new declaration allows for the current order of operations to continue.
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