It wasn’t your typical Tuesday night in Turks and Caicos. On January 16, the peaceful evening was shattered by a deafening boom as SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded during a test flight. The massive breakup sent debris raining down across the islands, leaving residents stunned—and stuck with the mess.

Lori Kaine, a local from Providenciales, described the scene as surreal. “At first, I thought it was a plane crash,” she said. The explosion left her driveway covered in mysterious cables, and broken pieces of the rocket’s heat shield littered her neighborhood streets and nearby beaches.

Turks and Caicos, a British territory about 525 miles southeast of Miami, appears to be the hardest-hit area. No injuries have been reported, but debris has been found on nearly every beach and even near homes. One piece reportedly damaged a car in South Caicos.

SpaceX’s response to the incident hasn’t been reassuring for locals. The company has yet to fully address the cleanup, leaving residents like Kaine frustrated. “They need to come pick this up,” she said.

The explosion raises bigger questions about SpaceX’s approach to testing its rockets. Starship, designed to one day carry humans to the moon and Mars, has a history of fiery mishaps. This time, though, the debris fell dangerously close to populated areas.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed it’s investigating the incident, including reports of damage. Meanwhile, local groups are scrambling to clean up the mess, with no clear plan in place to assess potential environmental harm.

Residents are now left wondering: Is this the cost of progress? As debris continues to wash ashore, the island’s pristine beaches and fragile ecosystems hang in the balance.