Cayman Compass

A heavy downpour Tuesday afternoon led to extensive flooding in parts of Grand Cayman.

Simulating a response to a major hurricane strike on Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, teams from the Governor’s Office, Hazard Management Cayman Islands, the Royal Cayman Islnds Police Service, 911 and the Government Communications Service took part this week in a joint training exercise with counterparts from the UK and the British High Commission in Kingston.

A tropical wave south of Puerto Rico is expected to move into the Cayman area Friday evening, bringing scattered showers through Friday night, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasting for the Atlantic hurricane season has increased slightly, with meteorologists at Colorado State University predicting six hurricanes, up from their previous forecast in April of five.

Forecasters at the US National Hurricane Center are watching a low-pressure system off the coast of Mexico, giving it a 60% chance to develop into a tropical cyclone over the next several days.

Rainy weather lingered over Cayman Wednesday and more showers were expected to fall through Thursday morning.

The Cayman Islands marked the National Day of Preparedness on Monday to highlight the importance of being ready for the upcoming hurricane season and other natural disasters.

Subtropical storm Andrea, the first named storm of the Atlantic season, is maintaining a northward heading over the western Atlantic, but meteorologists say it is expected to weaken late Tuesday and dissipate on Wednesday.

When ‘king tides’ sweep across Grand Cayman, the residents of North Sound Estates often find the ocean at their doorstep.

Hurricane shelter operators are looking for 100 volunteers to help man the sites in the event of major storms in the upcoming hurricane season, which begins on June 1.

A Cayman Islands delegation of representatives from the Red Cross, Hazard Management and the government recently attended the ‘Collaborative Cash Programming’ disaster response workshop in the British Virgin Islands.

What would happen if a gigantic wave was barrelling toward Grand Cayman and there were only two hours to prepare for its arrival? Hazard Management Cayman Islands tackled that scenario on Thursday, when it participated in the regional Caribe Wave Tsunami Exercise.