Has anyone heard the extent of the damage to Palm Island, PSV, or the Tabago Cays? I'm assuming their position toward the sounthern end of the Grenadines nearest Grenada (hard hit) puts them at greatest risk.

All I have found - and it is BAD - is that Grenada got slammed.
I read that St George is basically decimated...
I have not been able to get any info on outlying islands.
We have friends on Tobago I plan to call them in a bit.I am sure power went out immediately to the smaller islands as soon as they were hit with even TS strength winds.
For the latest, go to stormcarib.com
I am in tears as I write this.
Someone posted there is not a tree standing on Grenada.
So sad

In order to be responsible, I should add that the person actually said 'there is not a tree standing.'
That may just be in that individual's area and not island-wide, but it sounds like they were hit extremely hard.

For IPM'sMOM, it doesn't sound good for the other islands either.

"September 8, 2AM EDT - Grenada
The eye of Ivan passed over Grenada... First reports from Grenada don't sound too good... Let's hope for the best... The other islands, except probably for some of the Grenadines, seemed to have fared ok"

"Wed, 8 Sep 2004 11:49:59 -0400 (AST) - Ivan and Beyond


Good morning!

My sympathies and prayers to those devastated by the passage of Ivan the
Terrible. Grenada's direct hit and subsequent cut-off from all
communications, save for a few lucky cell phones, make for many
apprehensive relatives not in harms way. We will try our best to keep you
updated as this tragic situation unfolds and more reports are forthcoming.
Please don't expect rapid re-establishment of communications as the
islands infrastructure has taken a massive blow.

This also is in reference to, although on a less devastating note, the
islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines"

From what I can gather, the main island of St. Vincent may have got off rather lightly although there was much damage to houses. Blue Lagoon, for example, and Barefoot came through relatively unscathed.

The new Raffles, on Canouan, had damage (to be expected as it is on the Atlantic side. Mayreau has suffered badly (even one of the shelters was destroyed). Carriacou has also been badly damaged but I have no eye witness details...seems the closer to Grenada, the worse it was. So that does not bode well for Union, PSV. Palm or the Cays.

I have not yet heard news from Mustique or Bequia, but find the silence disturbing.

For updates from those on all the islands, go to the following link. Grenada is severely devestated and has confirmed three dead. Ivan seems to be headed to the ABC's now, which are not really built to withstand hurricane force winds.

http://stormcarib.com/index.htm

Click on "discussions" for live updates.

I hope and pray for the best for those who Ivan has touched, as well as those in it's path.

Statia,

I am glad the storm did not head your way.

Just (gasp gasp) got this e-mail from our friends on Tobago. I have been SO worried about them and am so relieved to hear from them.

I've been through hurricanes before (but NOT a Cat 4. I can't imagine the terror...)

"Thank God for his mercy. Thank you for your prays it helped. Yes we are alright and that goes for my family and Peter's family too.

Most of the damages took place in the country areas. Peoples house roof has been lifted off. One woman died. I thank God that nothing serious happened to us. Trees fell but caused no damage.

Ivan did more damages to Grenada and that is so sad. I understand 90% of the houses has lost their roof. I can't imagine the devastation.

Thank you very much for your concerns and God richest Blessing to you. We love you all.

Talk to you soon

Stay sweet.

Love

The Alfreds"

Thanks for sharing that Diana. I'm glad your friends are ok.

I've been thru my share of category fours and fives here, and therefore feel very blessed that both Frances and Ivan barely missed us this year.

Now I just hope that the rest of the year is quiet for all of our sakes.

I've been thinking about friends in Jamaica all day. I spoke to one tonight, they are preparing as best they can, hoping for the best. People are gathering what supplies they can afford and find, many are moving into concrete buildings of some kind if they can.

Anyone that believes in the power of good vibes and thoughts, please send them to the people of Jamaica, Cuba, the Caymans, Haiti and anything else in the storm's path.

I know liza. I could not believe it when I woke up this morning and saw that it was a Cat 5 and had started that northward curve.

It is always so especially bad when the islands get hit because those people have so little to start with and the infrastructure is usually totally unable to deal with the results of a bad storm.

I'm sure you know what I mean when I say I can't help but think and worry about all of the friends we've made over years of traveling to the Caribbean and each little precious beach bar/food stand we know and love each time a storm heads their way.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone.

btw, do you know if there's an agancy where you can volunteer to actually GO there in the aftermath and help with aid? I tried the Red Cross site after Grenada got hit but could not find anything...

Up to last night, the death toll in Grenada had risen to 20 confirmed. St George's that beautiful little town - wiped out completely. The prime minister's residence flattened, the prison destroyed, the hospital damaged, the nutmeg crops over much of the island destroyed. I went through Hurricane Luis in Antigua in 1995 (a strong Cat 4 that stayed with us for 48 hours) so I know only too well what it is like - but perhaps worst for Grenada since most of the buildings and homes would not be built to hurricane standard. I pray that God will give them the strength to endure this crisis and I pray God's blessings on whomeever is next in the path of this vicious hurricane and thank Him for mercifully sparing the rest of us.

I would guess the Red Cross.

We are actually scheduled to arrive in Jamaica on Sept 27th and plan to go whether it's a vacation or to help, or both. (assuming our villa is still there to stay in)

A little lengthy but taken from stormcarib.com today for anyone interested.

How to help...:
Red Cross - stipulate that your money be sent to Grenada [Unfortunately it seems that the Red Cross has not set up a Special Fund for Grenada, consider contributing to the Grenada Consulate General Relief Fund)
The Consulate General of Grenada has set up a disaster relief fund. See below. For people outside the USA and want to avoid expensive wire costs, Linda Thompkins has set up a PayPal Donation Fund.
For New Yorkers who wants to offer any kind of help, they can carry any donations of anything to Square Deal shippers at Church Avenue and East 45th Street Brooklyn, in care of GM shipping

Frank Lombardi's agency has been been assisting disabled people in Grenada for the past few years. They are organizing relief efforts and have established a Grenada Relief Fund. E-mail [email protected] for more info.
Toronto/Canada: Cash donations can be made payable to the Consulate General of Grenada at all branches of the CIBC: ACCT: #2608731 TRANSIT #04702 [link]
Relief operations for Grenada on Trinidad are being coordinated by The Trinidad and Tobago National Emergency Management Agency and the collection point is Shed #10, Port of Spain Docks, Port of Spain by Friday 2004 Sept. 10 at Noon.
For those of you in Toronto who want to send items to Grenada, Arlene Taylor is organizing a shipment of a container. E-mail: [email protected]
Know of any other relief efforts? E-mail [email protected]

- received from red cross (fwd)
From: Gert van Dijken <gert AT vandijken.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2004 12:02:49 -0400 (EDT)


Dear All:


Thank you for your thoughtfulness. Communication systems in Grenada are still
down, and travel to the island has been nearly impossible. We have
pre-positioned stocks of relief supplies - hygiene kits, plastic sheeting, and
water containers - and response team members ready to deploy to the affected
areas at the request of our Red Cross partner organizations in the region. We
are posting information on our website very soon.

You can help those affected by Hurricane Ivan and countless others around the
world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross
International Response Fund, which will provide immediate and long-term support
through supplies, technical assistance, and other support to those in need.
Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Donations can also be mailed
to your local Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243,
Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make secure online credit card
donations by visiting www.redcross.org.

Thank you again for your kind offer to help.

Sincerely,
American Red Cross Inquiry Center

We hope this information is helpful.

jamaicans.com is starting to gather info so donations and help can be more efficiently done once the storm passes:

http://www.jamaicans.com/cgi-bin/ult...3&t=000377

From the owner of j.com:


Member # 446

posted September 09, 2004 01:06 PM a message from Xavier

Hi Everyone

Barring a miracle Jamaica is going to feel the ?brunt? of Hurricane Ivan. We believe that it is important that we become proactive rather than reactive to the relief efforts that may be needed after the hurricane. We would like to provide information to all on the relief efforts to Jamaica on Jamaicans.com. We will also be coordinating our own relief efforts with non-profits we have worked with in the past.

For those of you who live outside of Jamaica I am asking you to call the Jamaican political and diplomatic representatives in the area you reside. Please inquire if there will be a drop of point for items and donations for the Ivan relief effort. Please forward that information including organization name, contact person, telephone number etc to me via email at [email protected] . Please put in the subject Hurricane Ivan Relief

Please continue to pray for Jamaica and our Caribbean neighbors.

Thank You
Xavier

Everyone should definitely , pray , send good vibes , positive thoughts etc. towards the islands in the path of the now cat. 5 hurricane . Gilbert was a cat. 3 and in Jamaica it ripped apart the restaurant in The Blue Lagoon .... Grenada was hit by Ivan at cat.4 , it is a waiting game now , heres hoping and praying Ivan loses lots of steam .... Faith .

It's back down to a 4 now, hopefully it continues to lose strength.

Candlelight vigils going on at 9PM EST for those interested.

I had a report from Young Island off St. Vincent and all is well. They had guests during the hurricane and no problems. A little minor damage here and there, but nothing that can't be fixed in a day or two. St. Vincent appears to have faired well. Supposedly, Bequia was far enough north too and didn't sustain any major damage. Still waiting to hear from Mustique.

Yeah !!! Thanx Liza , Cat. 4 is better news than Cat. 5 , lets keep hoping . I have friends at Goblin Hill right now , not to forget the actual residents of Jamaica and all other people in Ivans path.... positive thoughts and prayers , Faith.

Bequia came off relatively lightly - the South Side (Paget Farm, La Pompe, Friendship Bay) were most affected. Roads blocked, rooves blown off, sand and water everywhere, etc., but no loss of life.

I'm waiting for an assessment of the Airport, located just outside Paget Farm on land reclaimed from the sea.

The beerboat took shelter in Spring Bay and ended up beached when the engine failed - however a successful relaunch was achieved yesterday by Hairoun-loving Bequians.

If Ivan continues on its current path in 24 hours the eye of the storm is expected to pass .7 of a mile from Kingston .... currently a cat.4 , but fluctuating in intensity . Never in hurricane recorded history has Grenada been hit by such a powerful hurricane ( Cat.4 )updated info on stormcarib.com , with photos of Kingston as storm clouds roll in , keep fingers crossed .

Heard from someone today who went to Palm Island that lots of trees down and the hotel was damaged. Guests were evacuated to a private home up on the peak to ride out the storm.