Relief supplies and assistance continued to pour into Cayman Brac Wednesday as a host of financial assistance initiatives was announced to help get the island back on its feet quickly.
House in Cayman Brac destroyed by Hurricane Paloma. Photo: Tammie Chisholm |
A National Recovery Fund relief account has been established that individuals and business can donate directly to (see sidebar story). It was kick started with a US$100,000 donation from Butterfield Bank.
The Cayman Islands Development Bank also announced it will offer secured operating credit lines of $50,000 and $25,000, for small business owners and farmers in the Brac.
‘Relief, in all its forms, including financing, is necessary in the immediate aftermath of a disaster,’ said Ralph Lewis, CIDB general manager. ‘A great challenge facing consumers is the availability of disposable income during these disastrous times when the need to purchase supplies is a priority,’ he said.
The Development Bank announced an immediate six-month moratorium on interest and principal repayments for all existing customers with loans in the Sister Islands. A two per cent interest rate reduction on all new loans granted to customers in the Sister Islands was also introduced.
There was also welcome relief for some mortgage and debt holders, with Cayman National Bank announcing it would waive loan and mortgage payments for customers on the Sister Islands from October through to January. Payments made in October are being given back to provide residents with desperately needed cash.
Port fees on imported goods to the island have also been frozen for the next month, the Port Authority announced.
District Commissioner Ernie Scott said spirits on the island remain high, despite the sickening blow it took from Hurricane Paloma’s estimated Category 4 winds early Saturday morning.
‘People are saying ‘we are still alive; we’re down but we’re not out; we’re going to rebuild and come together and things are going to be better at the end’,’ he said.
Road to recovery
The main focus of the recovery effort now is to restore power, make people’s homes dry and return some semblance of normality to the island. The next phase will focus on getting roofs replaced and rebuilding destroyed facilities and infrastructure, Mr. Scott said.
The number of people staying in government hurricane shelters is reducing constantly and in the next few days officials hope to close the Cayman Brac Daycare Centre shelter and move its inhabitants to the Aston Rutty Centre, down the road.
Two hundred to 300 people remain in the shelters, while more are staying with family and friends. Many residents have fled to Grand Cayman while others have simply decided to return to damaged houses to camp out in whatever dry, sheltered patches they can find.
Living conditions remain uncomfortable for most on the Island.
‘Living conditions are anything but good right now, but we are making the best of it,’ the District Commissioner said.
Electricity remains off throughout most of the Island and probably will be for some time, but power has been restored to some of the island’s critical infrastructure, including the District Administration Building and Faith Hospital. Eight street lights have been replaced and a small number of houses in Stake Bay now have power.
Officials say people are getting all the essential supplies they need, but the most constant demand from residents is ‘generators, generators, generators,’ Mr. Scott said.
About 200 have reached the island so far, he estimated, with roughly another 200 due to arrive by Wednesday evening.
Two Thompson shipping barges reached the Island Tuesday night, bringing with them eight temporary trailer homes, building materials and a large stock of relief supplies. Adrien Briggs’ vessel, Carib Eagle, has again returned, carrying another load of supplies.
‘Stuff is just pouring in here at the moment,’ Mr. Scott said.
A 40-foot container was expected to leave Grand Cayman Wednesday, packed with relief supplies including barbeques, generators, air mattresses, chainsaws and first aid kits. The container was organised by Baraud International together with Clarence King Flowers.
Services returning
Most other utilities are either partially or fully restored; Cell phone services, while not perfect, are mostly working. Seventy per cent of landline phones are working and Internet is available in parts of the island.
While piped water remains off, about 85 per cent of Brackers normally receive their water in tanker deliveries and that service has been unaffected. Additional tankers have been stationed at Spot Bay Primary School and Water Place Post Office, where residents can have one container up to 10 gallons filled for free.
All roads on both islands are now passable, after flood waters were cleared on roads on the south-side of the island.
The Creek Dock on Cayman Brac is also expected to be operational shortly, Port Authority Director Paul Hurlston said. Although the exterior of the warehouse had been damaged by the hurricane, the frame remains intact and repairs are scheduled.
Postal services have been suspended for the rest of the week however, because of damage to post offices and because air and sea cargo space is being used to transport relief supplies.
Faith Hospital is up and operational; inpatient services are being offered at the medical wing of the Aston Rutty Centre, while outpatient services, including general practice care such as immunisations, are available from the Faith Hospital between 11am and 4pm.
Residents are being urged to get tetanus shots to guard against the kind of infections that are likely to occur.
‘The kinds of clean-up Cayman Brac and Little Cayman residents will be doing – working to restore homes and removing debris – will expose them to dangers,’ a government advisory stated. ‘Puncture wounds or exposure to standing water are two common causes of tetanus.’
The free immunisations are available from community outreach teams that will be visiting all areas and also from Faith Hospital and the Aston Rutty Centre’s Medical Wing. Shots are also available from the Little Cayman Health Centre.
The Mosquito Research and Control Unit was conducting special mosquito larvaciding operations on the Island Wednesday in an effort to limit mosquito outbreaks following heavy flooding.
An MRCU plane was to drop larvaciding pellets on the south coast, from the end of the airport runway to the landfill, before a second flight targeted flooding areas on the north side of the runway up to the Western Auto Gas Station.
Police are operating out of the University College of the Cayman Islands building in Stake Bay, after Paloma ripped the roof of the police station. Residents can call 916-6553 for police assistance 24-hours a day, although emergency calls on the island should still be directed to 911, a government advisory said.
In Little Cayman, anyone requiring police assistance should call 925-4428 or 925-4431; or 911 in an emergency.
Additional police have travelled to the islands to help out.
Despite suffering significant damage, education officials said they plan to open the Cayman Brac High School early next week, although they had not nominated a specific date at press time Wednesday.
Insurance evaluators have begun arriving on the Island to assess and assign a value to property damaged in the storm, including homes, businesses, vehicles and other belongings.
‘Residents need to know that they do not have to sign any agreement quickly,’ a government advisory warned. ‘Also they are entitled to seek a second opinion if they don’t agree with the assessed value,’ it added.
Mr. Scott said residents on the Island are overwhelmed by the help they are receiving.
He paid tribute to the volunteers from Non-Governmental Organisations, including the Red Cross and the Adventists Disaster Relief Agency, that are working around the clock to bring comfort to the Island’s residents. He also thanked government employees on the island that are assisting the relief effort.
‘It’s overwhelming and we are so grateful. We want to express our gratitude on behalf of our people to all of the volunteers.’
Sidebar: Nation Recovery Fund relief account established
The Cayman Islands National Recovery Fund opened a relief account Tuesday that individuals and businesses will be able to donate to help Cayman Brac get back on its feet.
The No. 1 priority of the Fund will be to get residents back into dry homes by repairing roofs and windows before the focus can turn to rebuilding houses.
The Fund will concentrate on the elderly, the infirmed and those families with young children. Aid will be given first to those who are uninsured or are from low income families.
The Fund does not make direct grants to householders, but rather directly funds qualified contractors to undertake work, based on estimates, a release stated Tuesday.
Accounts that people can make direct cash donation to have been established with Butterfield Bank ($CI Account number: 02201/036345/00 or $US Account number: 01201/036345/01) and Cayman National Bank ($CI Account number: 011-11578 or $US Account number: 021-06309).
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