Further beach erosion feared from Helene’s wave impact

The centre of Hurricane Helene has now moved hundreds of miles north of the Cayman Islands, but large waves associated with the hurricane further damaged the dock by the West Bay public beach on Wednesday afternoon. The waves were still crashing ashore on the west side of Grand Cayman on Thursday.

With large waves still impacting the Cayman Islands and a marine warning still in effect, government has not yet provided the post-storm damage assessment.

An initial ‘windshield survey’, conducted by the Compass news team, appears to show the level of wave damage is low. Windsor Village, which sustained significant impacts earlier in the year in Tropical Storm Beryl, got through with no further flooding impacts this time.

Any hopes that the storm might restore some of the sand that has been lost along the southern section of Seven Mile Beach appears not to have materialised. At Laguna del Mar, waves were beating against the side of the ocean-front units.

Handel Whittaker, who is leading the redevelopment of the Royal Palms property, was assessing the damage from the passage of Helene.

He pointed to a bathroom structure that was being undermined by the waves. The structure would now have to be pulled down and removed. Whittaker said the sand that used to be in front of the Royal Palms helped to provide a buffer against the waves, protecting the buildings.

“The lack of a solution to the issue of beach erosion is going to impact the Cayman Islands tourism product if we don’t do something about it,” he added. “It is time for government to stop talking about finding a solution. Action is needed now. We have to do something to fix it.”

Brian Butler, who developed many of the condominiums along Seven Mile Beach, said the lack of sand on the southern section of the beach is causing a significant reduction in the prices for these properties. He believes that in many cases, the condominiums on the southern end of the beach are being discounted by over 25% compared to their value a few years ago.

He noted that in Florida, “The government recognises the value of the beach for their tourism product. They have put money in the budget to nourish and protect their beaches.”

1 of 5

Along the waterfront in George Town, large waves were still surging across the patio at the Cayman Cabana restaurant on North Church Street. All the furniture had been taken out of harm’s way.

Lazarus McKenzie, who works nearby at Cayman Diving Ltd, said their staff had removed the wood planks from the dock at the dive shop before the approach of the storm and as result, there had been no damage from Helene.

This was also the case at Casanova next door. The restaurant was open for business, except for the waterfront deck, on Thursday. One of the members of staff explained, “We lifted up the planks and stored them safely so we can get the deck back in operation as soon as the waves calm down again.”

At Rackam’s restaurant along the George Town waterfront, the waves were still crossing the deck and approaching the bar. The restaurant was closed, but there were no obvious signs of damage.

Sam Small from SEL Consultants was there inspecting the concrete dock that his company had recently helped to design and build along the edge of the restaurant.

“I am glad to say that everything has held up as expected,” he said, “We built it really strong, so I knew it would be fine, but I just wanted to check and make sure.”

The waves from Hurricane Helene are expected to start lessening throughout the day on Thursday and more normal sea conditions are forecast to return starting on Friday.