It’s been about two-and-a-half years since a major hurricane has impacted the Cayman Islands’ shores.
But the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service advises residents not to relax and leave hurricane preparations until a storm gets into the Caribbean.
The RCIPS has both great power and great responsibility in the event a hurricane strikes these islands.
Police Superintendent Adrian Seales said those powers are reserved for only the gravest emergencies, and police would rather not use them unless they have to.
As well as general policing duties, police officers are stationed in hurricane shelters to keep watch. After the storm hits, they’re required to provide policing coverage for key locations like grocery stores, gas stations, water supplies and communications infrastructure.
Police have the ability to forcibly remove individuals from forecast storm surge areas if they refuse to leave ahead of a storm.
Since 2004’s Hurricane Ivan, however, Mr. Seales said that really hasn’t been a problem.
“It’s from the hard lessons we learned,” he said. “The real danger in a hurricane is from storm surge. I can’t emphasise that enough. Usually, the waves come in a lot sooner.”
RCIPS may also be given the ability under the Emergency Powers Law or Police Law (2004 Amendment) to establish curfews and set up stop-and-search roadblocks. Motorists can expect to have their cars searched and could face arrest if they are out after curfew.
“The commissioner of police has the authority to enforce a curfew up to 48 hours after a storm,” Mr. Seales said.
The main reason a curfew would be established is to prevent looting from occurring in the immediate aftermath of a bad storm.
However, curfews can also serve to discourage additional traffic from being on the roads during the critical response period after a storm.
“We do have problems with people who come out to look at the damage,” Mr. Seales said.
Police also have detailed plans to provide enhanced security at prisons, Owen Roberts International Airport, the George Town Hospital, and Citrus Grove where 911 Emergency Communications are located.
Generally, if people who have not been charged with a crime are being held at local police station lock-ups, they will be temporarily released prior to a storm’s arrival.
Superintendent Seales said the public should be aware that, at the height of a storm, police officers and other emergency responders may be kept off the streets for safety measures. Additional officers would also be sent to Little Cayman and Cayman Brac in preparation for a hurricane.
Cayman Brac suffered its own problems following Hurricane Paloma in 2008.
The RCIPS recently reopened its police station on the Brac that was destroyed then.
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