Updated at 12:27 p.m. ET Monday

Even as Hurricane Irma was bringing its might to bear on the west coast of Florida, there was one thing that could not be buried by the immense storm's winds: all the wreckage those winds have made of the Caribbean.

From Antigua to Cuba, the string of small islands so often considered tourist paradises endured the hellish brunt of a Category 5 hurricane.

Smack in the center of that path were the U.S. Virgin Islands, a territory torn apart with the storm's arrival Wednesday. Now, days later, many on the islands fear the focus of their fellow Americans will be irreversibly drawn to the mainland, while they're left to pick up the pieces.

The Associated Press reports that of the at least 24 people who were killed by Irma in the Caribbean, at least four people died in the U.S. territory.

"This is a horrific disaster. There will be no restorations or solutions in days or weeks," U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp told reporters Saturday. "Let's manage our expectations."

President Trump issued a major disaster declaration for the battered U.S. territory Saturday, freeing up more federal funds to support recovery efforts, including the removal of debris.

Mapp said St. Croix, an island spared the worst of Irma's effects, has become the temporary staging area for delivering relief supplies to the rest of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. On St. Croix are aircraft, troops — and residents such as Elizabeth Smith, who told NPR about the situation faced by the territory four days after the storm's departure.

The other two major islands in the U.S. territory, St. John and St. Thomas, are still "not safe," Smith wrote in an email Sunday.

"No power, no running water, no cell service. The only hospital on St. John faced catastrophic failure during the storm," she said, later clarifying over the phone that she was referring to the hospital on St. Thomas. "Patients with life threatening injuries were evacuated to hospitals in Puerto Rico and St. Croix."

Smith reports obstacles to obtaining assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the fact that the stations distributing food or water in rations are difficult to find without power or cell service.

Meanwhile, the State Department continues to coordinate evacuation efforts for U.S. citizens who remain on St. Martin — an island half by the Dutch and half by the French — administered through social media, radio and in reaching out to hotels and Airbnb locations, spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement.

The department warned passengers arriving at the island's Princess Juliana International Airport, "there is no running water at the airport and very limited shelter."

Several cruise lines have offered their ships to assist in recovery efforts, sending them fully stocked to usher tourists to safety off the islands, according to the Miami Herald.

"We have been such a part of the Caribbean and South Florida communities for so many decades. We are worried and anxious," Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, told the Miami paper. "At the end of the day, we want to try to help as much as we can."

Retired NBA star Tim Duncan also pitched in, saying in a post on The Players Tribune he is donating $250,000 to "storm relief efforts in the U.S. Virgin Islands" — and promising to match other donations up to the first $1 million. He also noted he would charter a plane to help shuttle supplies to St. Croix, where the future Hall of Famer grew up.