Even though 18 years have passed since Hurricane Ivan pummelled the Cayman Islands over a 36-hour period from 11-12 Sept., the memories seem fresh for the people who lived through the storm.
Sea surges exceeded 10 feet and poured across the coastline, swamping inland areas; 81% of Cayman’s buildings were damaged and hundreds were rendered unusable. The storm passed 21 miles southwest of George Town, producing maximum sustained winds around 155 miles per hour, a storm surge of about eight to 12 feet, and waves 20 to 30 feet high.
When the storm finally passed, two people had died as a result of Ivan.
Premier Wayne Panton, in a comment to the Cayman Compass Monday evening on the anniversary, said, as the islands mourned the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, so “we also pause to remember the devastating impacts Hurricane Ivan brought to our shores 18 years ago.”
“Our faith, determination, hard work and community spirit sustained our resilience, helping us to recover and rebuild. May God continue to bless our three islands, and indeed our entire Caribbean region, keeping us safe during this hurricane season,” Panton added.
Hurricane Ivan remembered
Residents here and aboard are recounting the passage of Hurricane Ivan, with people taking to social media to mark the anniversary of the hurricane that caused more than $3 billion in damages.
Courtney Platt, speaking with the Cayman Compass on Monday in a telephone interview, recalled living through the storm and documenting its impact in his book ‘Paradise Interrupted’.
“It was an adrenaline rush at the very least,” he said, as he described watching the windows on the upper floor of his home “bowing” six inches inside from the high wind gusts.
“Rain doesn’t fall in a hurricane, it’s just horizontal and 150 miles an hour sustained winds… when the gusts hit it just turned into a mist… it was just a whiteout, just a white mist during these 220 mile gusts and those moments were the most exciting… when I had to duck away from the window and put my back up against the wall in case that window blew in,” he said.
Platt said where he was living, more than half a mile inland from South Sound, the storm surges reached the houses on Windermere Street, off Walkers Road, which came as a surprise to him.
He noted the devastation of East End and that the entire south coast was “just wiped out by storm surge. All the trees on the south coast were stripped naked, that was part of what made it so hard to recognise where to turn going home. The first day we went out… We went past the turn to our house because you couldn’t recognise anything… The street signs were blown down. It was quite the eye opener… it was, I think, a lot like what it might look like at the edge of an atomic blast,” he said.
Lana Gilyun, who posted photos of the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan to the Facebook group I love Cayman Islands, told commenters, “it was a very scary experience”.
She recounted her Hurricane Ivan memory to the Compass saying, “Being in the water up to my waist, and then sitting on the kitchen island (4 people, 2 dogs and a cat), watching fish swimming around us in the house… And after there was no power, no water for three months, but we were helping each other to survive. Thanks so very much to all people.”
Hurricane Ivan reached Category 5 strength three times on the Saffir-Simpson scale as it crossed the Caribbean, and was considered the strongest hurricane on record that far southeast of the Lesser Antilles, according to the US National Hurricane Center report on the deadly storm.
Hazard Management Cayman Islands Director Danielle Coleman added her reflections on Hurricane Ivan, telling the Compass that when it made landfall in the Cayman Islands 18 years ago it caused “devastating damage that left significant proportions of the population displaced without power and water for a period of weeks”.
“It imprinted on many Caymanians the understanding that preparing in advance for the arrival of a hurricane is absolutely critical. Whilst in many respects we have grown stronger and more resilient, with the creation of this department in January 2008, we at Hazard Management Cayman Islands cannot emphasize enough how critical it is to be prepared and to have a plan. More information on how to be prepared can be found at our website: CaymanPrepared.ky and on our social media,” she said.
Preparing in advance is not an option, “it is a necessity,” she added.
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