Immediately after the hurricane departed our shores, recovery efforts began. It was a time when neighbors helped neighbors, no matter the color of their skin, the country of their birth, their political allegiance or the amount of money they had in the bank. Ivan the Equalizer was an indiscriminate beast of a storm that left everyone who remained on Grand Cayman in a similar predicament in so many ways.
The recovery engendered cooperation between Cayman’s government and its private sector. This was particularly evident with the financial services industry, which needed to be operational as quickly as possible after the storm. Although it wasn’t a case of “business as usual” for several months, most of Cayman’s financial services companies reopened for business within days.
There was also a détente between Cayman’s two political parties, which at the time had been gearing up for a contentious election. The incumbents and candidates realized, and rightly so, that residents weren’t interested in political rhetoric when they were under stress and duress and struggling with damaged homes, destroyed vehicles, no electricity or running water, and a scarcity of food.
For a while, everyone who remained on Grand Cayman worked together in unity and in harmony to rebuild the country, but that spirit of cooperation turned out to be much too brief.
In the 10 years since, many of the expatriates who stayed and helped put the country back together have been rolled over, forced to leave the country because they’d been here too long. The Caymanian-expatriate divide has now devolved into adversity and animosity evidenced by both sides.
When it comes to politics, the country is further divided by district parochialism (“No Dump in Bodden Town!”), coexisting with political partisanship so prevalent that it seems every new government administration feels it must undo as many of the previous administration’s decisions as possible.
The social, economic and political disintegration that has occurred over the last decade has made it less likely Grand Cayman could rebound as quickly as it did after Hurricane Ivan if a similar disaster were to occur today.
Many businesses have outsourced or divested themselves of key elements of their operations here for economic reasons and are less likely to show a commitment to Cayman through another rebuilding period.
In addition, work permit holders, most of whom now have no real chance of permanently settling in Cayman and are, logically, not as emotionally attached to the country, would be less inclined to stay and pitch in through difficult post-hurricane living conditions.
Ultimately, the Cayman Islands did after Ivan what every country does after a natural disaster: It recovered. The resilience shown wasn’t unique to the Cayman Islands, but it was on display in abundance. Simply put, as a country, we did what we had to do — and we did it well.
In today’s Cayman Compass, we are pleased to include the largest publication ever presented by this company during its nearly 50-year history. Entitled “HURRICANE IVAN: The 10th Anniversary,” the 108-page commemorative supplement recounts the horrors of the storm and the heroic and courageous behavior of our people in its aftermath.
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Yes Ivan. But truly in fact the only uniting it done to people was in the physical, because spiritually people only pretended for a short time in order to survive. I lived through it from beginning to end praying for all the children to be spared. With my family, nine of us including a six month old, and a one year old and two dogs, all in a small bathroom at the Bodden Town Public Library.
Each of us who witnessed Ivan here has bitter sweet stories to tell. Some like myself lost everything inside my home by having six feet of salt water which remained for more than three months. No running water and no electricity for one year. Thanks go out to electrician Mr, Christie and to Mr. Joe Ebanks who worked at CUC, and made sure I got electricity. Thanks to Mr Jonathan Jackson who removed a big tree which had fallen on my roof. We must always remember the good that people do for us and acknowledge them for it.
The day after everyone united for survival not for anything else, because Cayman became a broken, ravaged country whereby it was take more than you can get. I saw people rolling wheel barrows full of rum and beer, and later asking for a drink of water. I saw the poor feeding the rich and looting beyond imagination. I even heard people rejoicing because the catastrophe had hit the island. I saw barbers and hairdressers become roofers overnight. I saw a cup of hot soup went from two dollars to ten dollars in the black market. I saw a can of condense milk went from one dollar to nine dollars. I saw people praying, crying and almost drowning, but I saw a Premier called McKeva Bush leading the UDP Government giving comfort and hope to all. Busy like a King Bee he was making plans for the uninsured people had roof over their heads food to eat and water to drink. However I also survived to see a new PPM government take over, and lived to witness the ugly cruel face what politics could do causing people like myself not to have a job. Ivan was a bitter sweet memory to which half of the story has not yet been told. Today I pray that we all remember that day, because for most of us, the memories will never go away.
I was evacuated and upon my return my apt that was pretty much left un-touched partially furnished by myself had all its contents stolen by my landlord in West Bay (supposedly). When I came back, three months had passed. I was walking the property when the lady that owned it told me I was trespassing and she would shoot me if I came back. I went to the police to file a police report and they said Ohh Ms ________ she would never do such a ting… I ask that they preform a search of the property… which they never did.
Wasnt all roses after Ivan… there was looting of abandoned homes, and they police enforced 6-6 curfew.
Ivan obviously wasn’t all about love and compassion for your fellow man. I am sure there are plenty of Horror stories most likely a lot more than there are stories of people helping each other but these are the stories that motivate people not the horror stories. It is a shame but the truth is that good people come few and far in between but bad guys come a dime a dozen. And I am sure they all took advantage of the situation Cayman was in.
In all I am just happy that Cayman survived and was able to recover, so many place face natural disasters and they have never recovered.
Indeed Cayman was very Fortunate..
I recently visited Cayman (for the first time in ten years) and I could clearly see many changes in the country after Ivan. There are new roads, especially the round-a-bouts (which I may never get used to!), new street lights, new buildings, along with many new homes, apartments and condo complexes. I truly love Cayman and I sincerely hated that Ivan caused so much destruction and was so devastating to the people there ten years ago.
During my visit, while driving around the island, I couldn’t help but think to myself… why aren’t these new homes being built raised up off the ground this time? Why are they built again on concrete slabs, flat on the ground?? In most of the coastal areas of the U.S., beach front homes and even many homes located several streets back from the waterfront are built up off the ground. (at least one level for garage parking underneath, to reduce damage from flooding) What kind of home builder or building company is re-building or building new homes in Cayman on concrete slabs, putting them all at such risk for severe flooding when the next storm does come along?
With property in Cayman as costly as it is, my husband and I are afraid to buy a vacation home built on a concrete slab on an island nearly at sea level. The roads are constantly underwater when it rains and some houses end up with water standing in the front yard -right up to the front door. If the homes and small businesses were rebuilt raised up by at least 6-8 feet, flooding wouldn’t be nearly such an issue, especially in areas of Cayman prone to severe flooding.
I dearly love Cayman and have always dreamed of living there, but I would also love to see some preventative measures being taken to protect the people and their homes from any future storms before I could consider purchasing any real estate.