As much of the recent media focus has been on the aftermath of the devastation in Puerto Rico and the estimated more than 4,600 people who died there in the wake of Hurricane Maria, little is said of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Also a territory of the United States, and very much a colony like its Caribbean counterpart, the U.S. Virgin Islands have endured much damage from the dual Category 5 hurricanes Irma and Maria that landed only two weeks apart in September 2017. As opposed to the relatively quick post-hurricane recovery efforts on the mainland, the Virgin Islands have experienced a slowed recovery due to a shortage of cash in the territory. As the Washington Post reported, contractors who are repairing and rebuilding the storm-damaged homes have not been paid in months. This in a territory that faced financial woes even before the successive hurricanes, with the storms crippling tourism and eroding the tax base. Approximately 18,500 homes were destroyed on the three major islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John, on which fewer than 100,000 people live.