on small scale fishing and subsistence agriculture. Charcoal-making was a practice that began during the plantation era when strong fires were vital for sugar and rum production, and charcoal making emerged as a primary industry for the BVI during the Post-Emancipation years. Between the 1920s and 1960s, an estimated 20,000 tons of charcoal were exported from the BVI to the US Virgin Islands. (1998. Penn-Moll, Verna, Coals of Fire: The Development of the Caribbean Fireplace Technology with Traditional Customs, Myths and Sayings.) According to island residents, on JVD, people would work collectively to build charcoal pits, a practice that occasionally continues to this day. The pits were often a social gathering place, women might use the heat of the fire to bake bread or roast breadfruit while the men might play dominoes around the pit. Maritime resources were also extremely important historically to the people of Jost Van Dyke, and the island has emerged as a fishing village. The desire for trade and social interaction with nearby islands stimulated the development of seafaring skills. Sailing, fishing, rowing and boat construction flourished. Small, locally constructed sailing vessels the "Tortola Boat" flourished in the BVI until about the 1960s when they were replaced with motorized craft. Hurricane Irma Jost Van Dyke, like the rest of the British Virgin Islands, suffered catastrophic damage from Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm which struck the territory in September 2017. The island's hillsides were stripped of vegetation. Jost Van Dyke's primary school, health clinic, and two petrol stations were damaged, while most of the island's homes were destroyed. With little aid from the British or territorial governments during the week following the storm, Jost Van Dyke's 298 residents set up a recovery and command center Foxy’s Tamarind Bar and Restaurant. Food from other restaurants and residences were brought to Foxy's, which housed the island's only major, surviving refrigerator and generators before others were repaired by the Royal Marines later that month. Residents used a salvaged chainsaw to clear roads and connect remote parts of the islands. Demographics and tourism As at the 2010 Census, the population of Jost Van Dyke was 298. The population has grown strongly in recent decades, in line with the population of the Virgin Islands. Its recorded population in 1991 was 140. The island has a young population with nearly one-half (46%) of residents under the age of 35 and almost 70%