Several waterfront restaurants remained closed Tuesday as waves driven by Hurricane Ian continued to pound Grand Cayman’s coastline.
At Cayman Cabana on the waterfront in downtown George Town, owner Luigi Moxam watched as the seemingly endless waves inundated his restaurant’s deck.
He said Cabana has suffered damage in the storm, which will be assessed more fully once the seas calm down, but he plans to be open for business on Friday.
“We’ve been mashed up pretty bad,” he told the Compass. “There is a little more damage than anticipated.”
In 2020’s Hurricane Delta and last year’s Tropical Storm Grace, the restaurant suffered some extensive damage, and Moxam says Ian has caused even more.
“It’s still very flooded,” he said late Tuesday afternoon, “but I can tell there is significantly more damage than before. A door popped off, some of the concrete structure is broken.”
But, he added, he was grateful that most of the island was spared from catastrophic destruction from Hurricane Ian.
“We’ve been through some dark days over the past couple of years at Cabana since before the pandemic, a lot of storms last year, and one fire,” he said, as he commended the support of the local community in keeping the business alive, and invited “everyone to come out this Friday when we reopen for the weekend”.
Some restaurants, like The Wharf, escaped damage in the storm, but stayed closed Tuesday because the outdoor seating areas on their decks were still being lashed by sea spray and high waves. Staff at The Wharf said they expected the restaurant to reopen once the waves die down.
Burger King on the George Town waterfront was also being hammered by sea surge and was closed Tuesday as its carpark was flooded from the sea water.
At Sunset House, which was open on Tuesday, the deck area had been cleared of tables and chairs because of the high waves, which at times breached the seawall and splashed over the spot where scores of diners would usually be seated.
Meanwhile, over at The Sandbar, manager Brice Reid said, if the rough seas die down, as expected on Wednesday, the bar and restaurant would reopen in the afternoon.
“As long as the waves do what they’re supposed to do, we’ll reopen at 2pm tomorrow and we’ll have our trivia night from 5-7pm,” he said.
Rackam’s was closed on Tuesday as well. A post on its Facebook page stated, “We will remain closed while we assess the damage caused by Hurricane Ian. We are hopeful we will be back serving you soon.”
Ian passed Grand Cayman on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, and at its nearest point was about 75 miles southwest of the island.
On Tuesday, it smashed into the western part of Cuba as a Category 3 storm with 125 mile-an-hour winds, killing at least one person and leaving a million people without power, according to media reports.
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