Cayman Brac

Island, people need restoration

A massive humanitarian relief effort is under way on Cayman Brac after the monster storm Hurricane Paloma brought Ivan-like” destruction to the Island early Saturday morning.

Mrs. Bertram Galbraith shows the roof of the Cayman Brac Veterans and Seaman’s Centre on the Bluff where 93 people sheltered during Hurricane Paloma. As the roof began collapsing those in the shelter scattered to other parts of the building to safely ride out the storm. They huddled in restrooms, the office, kitchen and entrance. 11 people are still sheltered there and hope to be able to return home or some other safe, dry building by next week. Photo: Tammie C. Chisholm

Up to 1,000 people have been left homeless after the storm’s late track to the east moved Grand Cayman out of the storm’s path and caused it to instead slam into the Sister Islands, packing maximum sustained winds of up to 140mph with gusts estimated at over 160mph.

The Brac took the brunt of the massive storm, which obliterated whole buildings and inflicted mild to severe damage on an estimated 90 per cent of buildings across the Island.

‘We’ve got catastrophic damage here in Cayman Brac,’ Deputy District Commissioner for the Sister Islands Mark Tibbetts told the Caymanian Compass.

‘You are talking about buildings that are totally demolished and roof damage, from shingles blown off to roofs being completely ripped off, all along from one end of the Island to the other.’

‘There will be lots of [people left homeless] for a long-term period,’ he said.

On Little Cayman, Paloma’s winds also plucked roofs from houses, but structural damage on the Island does not seem to be as bad as it was on the Brac. However, the Island could be without electricity for some time after Paloma damaged the Island’s power generator.

On the Brac, major damage to commercial and government buildings has been reported. Paloma wiped out Billy’s Supermarket; the airport and police station have been damaged; and tourist facilities have been devastated. Even churches were not spared Paloma’s wrath.

‘Our hotels and condos are destroyed, our churches are destroyed and our school are destroyed,’ said Sister Islands MLA Julianna O’Connor-Connoly

Power poles were snapped like toothpicks and most of the Island remains without electricity.

Even two hurricane shelters, which people had fled to as it became clear Paloma was eyeing the Island, were breached. Little more than the frame of the warehouse at the government dock is left standing.

Injuries have been reported on the Sister Islands but, remarkably, no deaths.

Ms O’Connor-Connoly said the storm was frightening in its intensity.

‘I just got to a point where I said ‘Lord, just take care of my son and hopefully he can find where I left my will’,’ she said.

She passed out the storm in a bath tub with her niece, daughter, mother and sister after the upstairs portion of her Bluff house collapsed.

‘The upstairs got damaged severely and it caused the second floor to collapse. Downstairs, the water started pouring in and we decided not to try to save stuff but just hunker down in the bathroom and hope for the best.’

‘I’m just grateful I’m alive and that I didn’t lose any of my people on Cayman Brac or Little Cayman,’ she said.

Government officials and essential services personnel began descending on the Island Saturday evening, establishing a command centre at Gerrard Smith Airport.

Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts and Governor Stuart Jack were among a group of top officials on the Island to oversee the relief and recovery effort.

‘This is their Ivan; this is Cayman Brac and Little Cayman’s Ivan,’ Mr. Tibbetts told the Compass Monday morning. But he added: ‘Relief is pouring in … All hands are on deck and working feverishly.’

The first Cayman Airways 737 jet flight to the Island arrived Sunday evening, loaded with relief staff, government officials and Brackers returning home to see if their houses had been spared. The fully booked flight returned Sunday evening loaded with evacuees – mostly children and the elderly.

Cayman Airways said it would be offering four day’s worth of free mercy flights from the Brac to Grand Cayman for anyone wanting to leave the Island. The flights will be offered on a first-come first-served basis, with priority being given to children, the elderly and the ill.

The Royal Cayman Islands Police Force has imposed a curfew on the Island that is running from 10pm to 6am. Officials have pleaded with those on the Island to respect the curfew for their own safety and have warned they will take action against those ignoring it.

Mr. Jack ordered the Royal Navy Warship Wave Ruler to the Sister Islands where its crew of 50 is now providing disaster relief and humanitarian supplies.

CUC representatives have flown to the Island to assist Brac Power and Light in assessing requirements for power restoration but it could be weeks – even months – before utilities are completely restored.

A chainsaw crew from the Agriculture Department was working to clear roads around the Island. A government advisory said roads on the north side and the Bluff had been cleared and there were hopes that the remaining section of the south side that is covered in water could be cleared by Monday.

A medical team of 10 people flew over to the Brac on the Island Express flight at noon Sunday. The team is comprised of Medical director Dr. Greg Hoeksema, HSA acting CEO Lizzette Yearwood, another doctor, psychologist, two nurses, two emergency medical technicians and two facilities people.

‘We are bringing over a load of medical supplies including tetanus shots. We have no idea how long we will be there but we will be there as long as they need us,’ said Mr. Hoeksema.

A vessel, the Carib Eagle was loaded with supplies donated by local business while two of Adrien Briggs’ vessels departed for the Island Sunday, one loaded with 8,000 pound of ice, the other with general supplies. Relief workers from the Red Cross and Public Works Department as well as security personnel were on board another vessel loaded with tarpaulins and hygiene kits.

Ms O’Connor-Connolly was one of hundreds of Brackers waiting for those supplies at a dock when one of the first boats arrived Monday morning.

‘These supplies are extremely important because people went to the shelters with a few days’ supplies or left supplies at their homes. Some people have come back to find they don’t have a home,’ she explained.

‘Many of the homes have major, major, destruction. They don’t have supplies so it’s good to see water and food on the dock so we can get it out to the people.’ she said.

Ms O-Connor-Connoly warned that it could take months – maybe years – for the Island to completely recover.

‘It could be a few months for life to get back to normal for those that have contacts and influence but for those that have to wait on the wheels of justice, it could be 12 months or more,’ she said.

It may also be a long time before people can recover emotionally from Hurricane Paloma.

‘People are walking round in disbelief. They are crying. One lady said to me ‘I’m not even going back to work. All my life I worked and look, my home is a pile of rubble’,’ Ms O’Connor-Connolly said.

‘People are overwhelmed by the size of the catastrophe they are facing,’

Paloma smashed into the Sister Islands just one day shy of the 76th anniversary of the 1932 Cuba storm, which brought winds in excess of 155 miles per hour to Cayman Brac. That storm was one of the deadliest to ever hit the Caribbean, claiming over 3,000 lives.

About 450 people rode out the storm in hurricane shelters on the Sister Islands, although for those hunkered down at the Seaman’s Centre and the West End Primary School, it was an uncomfortable experience, with sections of roofs from both buildings being ripped off by Paloma’s devastating force, causing flooding.

Those that spent the night at shelters or with friends and family were returning to their homes Saturday afternoon simply praying their homes would be spared.

District Commissioner Ernie Scott was one of them. He was coming to grips with a collapsed roof and eight inches of water throughout his house when contacted by the Caymanian Compass Saturday evening.

‘I am just trying to get through the water to find my bedroom,’ he said. ‘Things don’t look very good here right now.’

Deputy District Commissioner Mark Tibbetts wasn’t faring much better at his house in West End. ‘I’ve got roof damage, everything inside is damaged. It’s total destruction,’ he said.

While it will be a long and painful rebuilding process for the Island, Ms O’Connor-Connolly said Paloma’s devastation can be harnessed toward a positive outcome.

‘These things are terrible and we don’t have any control over them but this can be used as an opportunity to unite this country,’ she said.

‘Let our history and our culture unite us so as a people we can rise from the ashes and be a triumphant group of people that the world can look at and say ‘yes, they had a disaster but there was something different about these people that allowed them to survive’.

‘If anyone can do it, Cayman can do it because we have such an incredible melting pot of experiences from all around the world.

‘It’s time to collate them and pool them together and let this Island be the best that there is to offer anywhere.’

CFP journalists Brent Fuller, Norma Connolly and Shurna Robbins and Editor Tammie C. Chisholm contributed to this story.