Norwich — Norwich Public Utilities Assistant General Manager Chris LaRose went to the U.S. Virgin Islands for his honeymoon in 1987, and revisited the popular resort island one other time before this week.

But things are much different on his third visit. All the metal buildings at the shoreline have been destroyed. Boats are still strewn about on dry land. Roads are covered with a tangled mess of power lines, trees and debris. The roof of a strip mall had collapsed, LaRose said. There’s a strict 7 p.m. curfew and no tourists for now.

LaRose and NPU linemen Mike Sommer and Tom Holmes are part of a contingent of public power utilities working to restore power to the islands heavily damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

“The crews are really busy,” LaRose said by conference phone call Thursday afternoon. “Today we straightened out five poles and replaced a couple poles and now we’re replacing a transformer as we speak.”

The hundreds of utility workers, National Guard troops and Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel are being housed on cargo ships docked in one harbor. Their utility trucks and equipment are staged in another area, and crews drive long distances along narrow, damaged roads to reach their work sites, LaRose said.

LaRose, serving as field supervisor for the NPU crew and other utility workers involved in the restoration effort, said crews are working 12 to 14 hours a day, and Thursday promised to be an especially long day. Weather conditions haven’t helped, he said.

When the NPU crews arrived Sunday night, they were greeted by a torrential downpour and flooding. When the skies cleared, they worked in 90-degree heat and oppressive humidity while wearing heavy protective rubber gloves, long sleeves and hardhats.

The work is slow and tedious, LaRose said. But while the island is still a mess, authorities have a goal of inviting tourist cruise ships back by Nov. 4.

“There’s millions and millions and millions (of dollars) of work that has to be done,” LaRose said.

The entire operation is expected to be funded by FEMA. NPU will bill the U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Public Power Authority, which will be reimbursed by FEMA.

NPU is one of 15 public power companies from New England, including crews from Groton Utilities and several crews from Massachusetts. They also are working with crews from the Western Area Power Administration, which covers 15 western and central states.

The potential to encounter live power lines juiced by the many private generators in operation isn’t the only field hazard the Norwich crews have experienced.

One worker in the group was digging a hole for a power pole and a tarantula emerged from the ground “the size of the guy’s hand,” LaRose said. Another time, an NPU worker was cutting a tree limb, and a 3-foot-long iguana leapt from the tree.

“Everyone jumped,” LaRose said.

The Norwich crews have not suffered any injuries, but the axle on one of the utility’s bucket trucks was damaged and is under repair.

LaRose, Sommer and Holmes are expected to return to Norwich on Oct. 29, when the next crew of five NPU workers, led by NPU General Manager John Bilda, heads to the island. Bilda will supervise all New England public power crews during his stay.

Bilda said Thursday that this is the second time NPU crews have deployed to the U.S. Virgin Islands for storm repairs. The last time was in 1988.

c.bessette@theday.com