The effects of Hurricane Wilma are still widespread in Cayman this week with bare supermarket shelves, no cruise ships, and no flights to Miami.
As cargo ships cannot get into port because of rough seas, Foster’s Food Fair flew in limited supplies of out-of -stock goods yesterday.
The milk, chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, bananas and grapes had been flown in from North Florida and were to be available from yesterday afternoon.
According to Managing Director Woody Foster, the produce is to fill a gap for a day or two until the regular shipment can get into port when the weather clears. He confirmed that the expense of flying in the goods will be borne by the supermarket and will not be passed on to the consumer.
With both its supplier and Miami International Airport put out of operation by Wilma, Hurley’s Marketplace was yesterday making a final decision on whether to fly in milk and fresh produce from another part of the world – places under consideration included Canada and Jamaica. The supermarket said it would probably bear the brunt of the cost and not pass it on the consumer.
Kirk Supermarket, as of yesterday, had no plans to fly in goods and was hoping that by Thursday the weather could improve enough for its supply ship to make it into port.
The Port Authority’s Port Facility Security Officer Joseph Woods said as soon as weather picks up, cargo vessels can resume coming into port. As of yesterday this was looking to be Thursday or Friday.
Flights have seen disruption and cancellation this week because of Wilma also. Yesterday morning’s flights to and from Miami were cancelled and at the time of going to press it was expected that the later flights 104 and 107 to and from Miami would also be cancelled.
Yesterday it was still uncertain when Miami International Airport would re-open. However, Cayman Airways stated it would resume operations as soon as conditions permit.
Meanwhile, yesterday the national flag carrier put on an extra flight to and from Tampa. It advises passengers to check its website for updates on flight information at www.caymanairways.com.
Miami Airport was running on emergency power Monday evening as officials assessed damage done to buildings and the airfield. Stranded passengers who couldn’t find hotels were taken by bus to shelters while police cars blocked airport entrances.
According to the Port Authority some cruise ships had been requesting to visit this Thursday or Friday, but this would totally depend on weather, with proper cruise scheduling to take effect from Monday. According to original scheduling, this Thursday there were to be seven ships in port.
The vessels scheduled to come here this week and last week, were re-routed to the Eastern Caribbean because of Wilma. Those ships that operate out of Florida will possibly be operating from different bases temporarily, and yesterday no cruise ships had cancelled their plans to come here next week.
Meanwhile gas supplies on the island are good, where Esso Ltd. is concerned. The fuel company’s last shipment came on Saturday 15 October and the next one is due 2 November.
‘We got a shipment in before Wilma,’ said Country Manager Esso Ltd. Alan Neesome. ‘We have no problems with supply.’
Texaco Caribbean Inc. had not given a response by press time.
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