Hurricane Ivan
 

Sounds like the hurricane is going to be a direct hit on Grand Cayman. The Drudge Report says winds are 165 mph and extending 75 miles out from the center. So much for Grand Cayman as a winter getaway in 2005.

Mother nature snarling at us. Hopefully this is the last storm after 3 in a row. Our prayers go out to all the residents on these islands and hope they survive it to see another bright sunny day.

Why is Grand Cayman out as a winter getaway for 2005! Hell I am going there next month and its still hurricane season! It may/will have some damage from this hurricane if it does hit it directly, but its no reason to cancel a visit several months away is it? I am hoping for the best and praying for those still on the island.

hopefully something goofy happens like it did for Jamaica (fortunately for them) when the storm slid by without the strongest winds ever reaching the island.

dfuben, Hurricanes are BIG storms - it's not like a tornado where it is so concentrated that one house can get hit and the one next door has minimal damage. Although Jamaica did not have a direct hit, from the reports I have heard, it seems to have suffered significant damage.

As far as Grand Cayman, the hurricane can remove beaches and destroy shallow reef as well as significantly destroy hotels, condos, etc. There is nothing on Grand Cayman to blunt the force of the winds and the island is essentially flat so the storm surge/flooding will be devistating. St. Maarten took several years to recover from a strong hurricane and I still see storm damage on the reefs.

I wish all the islanders well in this time of crisis.

Check www.caymannetnews.com for current conditions. It sounds as though this storm is devastating the island. May God help these people. ALso www.gotocayman.com message board-Robert gives a list for updates.

snorkelcar,
I am well aware of the danger of hurricanes and the damage it can cause to beaches, reefs, buildings and such. I am also aware of the diffreneces between GC and Jamaica and the effects of a "direct hit". I am also aware of the the differences between Cat. 1,2,3,4,5 hurricanes and the resulting damage caused by winds and storm surges, I am also aware of how the different weather systems seemingly so far away can effect the storms path.
My point about going to the island was that if its is still possible one should still go i.e. no health related issues and all the systems are ok (phones, electricity, gas, hospitals, police roads etc....) and there are still hotels and restraunts still operating then it would be advisable to continue with your plans, tourism is afterall the main source of income for a lot of these people. I am not advocating anyone to go tommorow unless they plan to help with the cleanup and restoration of the island but I would say as soon as the island is ready, I would be going if I had plans. As it is I am going next month (if things are ok) or I will wait till the earliest possible moment then I will be there spending my money.

So spare me the lecture.


By the way, Jamaica is breathing a big sigh of relief that the "eye" did not go directly over them. Then you would have really seen the damage this storm could have caused. Thank god it did not.

My thoughts and prayers to all those on the islands. I wish you all well and godspeed.

One thing that comes to mind is so many of the people living in the islands depend on tourism for income. Besides the devastation to their homes, they also feel the long term effects of lack of business.

Just curious........Did Curacao get ravaged by this hurricane or the other two?
I love that island!

I just saw a horrible report on the news ,a mother in Jamaica explaining as tidal surges roared in her baby was ripped from her arms , the whole town was in devestation . They were looking for water , diapers , anything in fact . They did not have much before , now basically nothing ....

Very sad to read the following news up date:-

Thoughts and prayers with all on Grand Cayman.




By Gretchen Allen

Associated Press Correspondent



HOUSTON (AP) ? Reports out of Grand Cayman, which has been furiously pummeled by category 4 Hurricane Ivan overnight and throughout Sunday morning, via internet and telephone, reveal a picture of grim devastation.

So far, Ivan has caused the deaths of some 56 people in the Caribbean on its deadly rampage from the Lesser Antilles, across Grenada, on to Jamaica and now Cayman.

Yesterday the Governor of the Cayman Islands, Mr. Bruce Dinwiddy, declared a State of Emergency.

At 2 p.m. Sunday, the Weather Channel reported that the island had been lashed by winds in excess of 200 mph.

Ivan was 60 miles west of Grand Cayman, traveling to the west at 10 mph, according to a National Hurricane Center Advisory.

There are unconfirmed reports that part of the capital, George Town, is ?gone?, that roofs are blowing around in the streets of George Town, and that the hospital has been badly damaged, or is possibly also ?gone?.

Two British ships are reported to be 250 miles behind Ivan, waiting to come into port to come to Cayman?s aid. The Cayman Islands are a British Overseas Territory (colony).

Vehicles in flood-prone areas have are said to have ?just disappeared?.

There is two feet of water at Owen Roberts International Airport.

Hurricane shelters on island are full to capacity.

An estimated 80 percent of the roof of Queensgate House, a waterfront commercial office building on the south side of the capital overlooking the harbour, has been blown off.

?It?s as bad as it can possibly get,? Justin Uzzell, 35, told the Associated Press by telephone about noon Houston time on Sunday, also noon Cayman time (Houston is on Daylight Savings Time, Cayman is not) from his fifth-floor refuge in the Citrus Grove Building downtown. ?It?s a horizontal blizzard,? he described, saying he could see no further than the parking lot of the adjacent building. ?The air is just foam. It?s a white wall. We?re being buffeted badly?.

At the Marriott Resort on Cayman?s famed Seven Mile Beach, its prime tourism product, windows were blown out of the 300+ room facility, and the cars in the parking lot had water up to their rooftops. Children of guests were said to be ?going bonkers? from being ?cooped up?.

?A catastrophe?, was how one landlord described the residential area of Crewe Road in George Town.

The island has been without electricity since Saturday evening and phone service is often impossible. Cell phone batteries are wearing down or are spent.

Canal-front developments, such as Governor?s Harbour and Snug Harbour, are flooded.

The Hyatt Britannia Resort?s canal which flows into the North Sound has overflowed due to the storm surge, and the Britannia Villas are flooded inside, as is the golf course. Cars there are under water.

At 12:50 p.m. ?winds are fiercer than ever?, reported one Cayman resident on the website stormcarib.com, which featured many posting from people seeking information on their loved ones.

Here in Houston, some 125 evacuees who arrived from Grand Cayman Friday afternoon on a special charter flight hired by Cayman-based Dart Management Ltd. to bring its employee resources to safety, were worried and frustrated at not being able to get through by cell phone, hearing ?all circuits are currently busy?. They continue to try to reach friends and relatives in their storm-tossed country.

Although the eye of the storm is now 60 miles southwest of the coast of Grand Cayman, Ivan?s hurricane-force winds (155 mph, with gusts to 190 mph) extend out 90 miles from the storm?s center, and it is presently moving west-northwest at 10 mph. Tropical storm-force winds extend out 120 miles. That means Grand Cayman is in for hours more of continued bashing.

The three Cayman Islands ? Cayman Brac, Little Cayman, and Grand Cayman, 90 miles to the southeast of the Sister Islands ? are home to about 45,000 people with well over 90 percent of them residing in Grand Cayman.

Flood waters were threatening the integrity of the Allista Towers Building in George Town.

There were unconfirmed reports that the roof had blown off the Kirk Servistar Home Center on Eastern Avenue.

Cars in the area of Cayman?s airport are said to have ?floated off down the road?.

There were reports of 135-mile-an-hour winds out of the northeast over the last two hours.

Winds were so strong around noon on Saturday that ?trees were bending down to the ground? along the West Bay Road, the island?s main road and tourist strip which runs parallel to Seven Mile Beach.

There is no radio service, leaving residents in the dark as to when and where the storm is going.

At midday people who sought shelter in the Walkers Building in the center of town were said to be okay.

Communiques from the Citrus Grove Building also said people seeking shelter there were safe.

The Huntlaw Building in the same area had its roof torn off around 8 a.m.

If Hurricane Ivan, which is reported to be developing a concentric (second) eye wall, winds increase by just one mile an hour, it will again be classed as a category 5 storm.

It is kicking up waves 15 ? 25 feet, or two stories high. Cayman is experiencing 8 ? 12-inches of rain.

According to the Weather Channel, Hurricane Ivan is the sixth strongest hurricane in the Atlantic basin in recorded history.

It is taking a track similar to that of Hurricanes Charley and Gilbert, which visited Cayman in 1988, and has been called the ?son of Gilbert?.

At noon Cayman time, Ivan?s coordinates were 19 N., 81.5 W., with wind gusts to 190mph.

?The wind is howling and there are no leaves left on any of the trees,? Perry Garrison told his wife, Shruty, in Houston by phone from Cayman

It is just awful what this monster storm has done to so many islands and so many lives. And, the sad part is that it's still on a roll.

Anne, as far as I've heard locally, Curacao was not adversely affected by Ivan. Aruba had a lot of flooding, however.

We have had plans to go November 11th, this year. We have plans to get married on the beach. After reading all the terrible damage reports, I am not changing my plans as of now. It's going to take more than mother nature's acts to stop me from getting married in the Caymans! The beach is still there and the sunsets will be there.

Hi. I am a Caymanian attorney ,ioving & working on Grand Cayman. My beautiful island paradise took a serious beating from Ivan, but everyone is hard at work getting our beloved country back up & running again.
The financial center, Georget Town was operational a mere one week after the Hurricane hit. The hotels that were hit are aiming to be operational by November.
This has been a hard blow for Cayman,but we are determined not to stay down. The Cayman Islands are up and running in many areas and will be fully operational by November. Our beaches are more pristine than ever & when this island wide clean up campaign is through, we will be even better and more beautiful than before.
Our doors will be open by November,2004 Lord's willing. Come & see us. Same great hospitality. Same friendly people. If your name is Ivan, change your name before you come, though.

any suggestions on who to contact about my vacation nov 11th? Dates that i have seen state nov 15th the island will accept tourists. we planned on getting married on the 13th. However, no one from cayman weddings have contacted me to let me know, I'm not surprised because of the islands status. thanks in advance

Cayman will indeed be up and running by November... Cayman is definitely part of the developed world, we are well insured, well organised, and totally indomitable and indefatigable in our efforts to get things back to normal.

If you want to help Cayman, the best thing you can do is to book a trip here for 2005... you will be positively guaranteed the warmest welcome possible :) !