By Reshma Ragoonath, on Cayman Brac
Under thick banks of cloud that lingered over the Sister Islands Wednesday, relieved Brackers began the post-storm clean-up, reflecting on a scenario that could have been far worse.
Downed foliage and power lines left many homes without electricity for much of the day.
And debris from fallen trees and damaged docks was strewn across roads and driveways as the Cayman Compass toured the island mid-afternoon.
At public beach, sand had been swept from the shoreline and onto the road.
Clean-up crews, regiment staff and utility workers were out in force to clear key traffic routes, and the police helicopter hovered over the Sister Islands throughout the day.
The overwhelming sentiment on the Brac, however, was one of relief.
“We are thankful to see there were minor reports of damage to properties on Cayman Brac,” acting Deputy District Commissioner for the Sister Islands Chavela Burke told the Compass Wednesday afternoon.
The storm shook the island, bringing back painful memories of Paloma and Ivan.
But the Brac’s near direct hit from Category 1 Rafael didn’t do anything like the damage of those notorious cyclones.
“We got more than we expected last night,” MP Moses Kirkconnell acknowledged.
But he said “no stone had been left unturned” in the preparations.
“There was a tremendous effort to make sure that there were no casualties, to make sure that we got through this as painless as possible,” he said, paying tribute to the emergency services and officials behind the islands’ hurricane response.
Faith Hospital was evacuated to the Bluff as a precautionary measure, shelters were activated and homes were shuttered ahead of the storm, which veered closer to the Sister Islands than initially expected, registering a direct hit on Little Cayman.
It was the smaller of the Sister Islands that took the brunt of the impact, with dive boats washed ashore and McCoy’s Bar and the Southern Cross Club also sustaining damage.
All efforts focused on Little Cayman
Power remained out in parts of Little Cayman Wednesday night and it was not expected to be restored to all customers until the weekend.
But there were no injuries, no loss of life and no serious structural damage on either island, Kirkconnell confirmed.
Burke said all efforts are being focused on “much needed support for Little Cayman, which suffered significant damage”.
She said there continues to be intermittent phone and internet service on the island.
“Evacuation flights are planned for visitors on island in Little Cayman via Cayman Airways. Crews from the CUC will be coming in to assist Island Energy with the restoration of power,” she said.
Power company boss Jonathan Tibbetts described a nervous night on the island as the storm lingered into the early hours.
“There was a lot of wind and rain, reminiscent of Paloma and Ivan. Thankfully it was less powerful but it seemed like it was hanging around. The wind was howling, the gates were shaking. Even the hurricane windows were rattling,” he said.
“It was unnerving at times, but thankfully we came through it okay.”
That’s true too of the power grid.
Despite some damage, most homes in the Brac had electricity restored by evening.
He said crews were out from 10:30pm after the worst of the storm passed and had worked through the night and throughout Wednesday to get 95% of customers back on line.
Burke said efforts to arrive into Little Cayman on Wednesday were disrupted by weather and those arrivals were anticipated to take place Thursday instead.
The tail end of the hurricane was still being felt over the Sister Islands into late Wednesday.
The flights that made it over to the Brac had to fly through heavy rain and wind gusts.
“We ask residents to be vigilant during the inspections of property and exercise caution as they travel the roads. Please also be mindful of our utility crews who continue to work through the day and night for restoration and repairs,” she urged.
Premier and Brac MP Juliana O’Connor-Connolly was also on Cayman Brac Wednesday but did not respond to requests for an interview.
Speaking on Radio Cayman earlier in the day, she thanked everyone who had prayed, saying the damage was largely limited to downed trees.
At that time, she said efforts were ongoing to evacuate some tourists from Little Cayman, which took a “greater beating”.
The premier ended by encouraging people to “take this one day to thank Almighty God and try to resist the temptation of being overly critical, because the story could have been much worse this morning.
“Let us take this opportunity not to become bitter, but better Caymanians and residents alike and unite as a country.”
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