Cayman Compass

About 40 people in Grand Cayman are receiving training in mass-casualty management and incident command systems this week, according to Hazard Management Cayman Islands.

When major disasters hit, the first priority is to keep people safe. This process can involve dramatic evacuations, rescues and searches.

Hurricane Michael strengthened and continued its trajectory northward on Monday, tracking away from the Caribbean and toward the southeastern United States. Michael was classified as a Category 1 hurricane as of 10 a.m. Cayman time on Monday, when its maximum sustained winds were measured at 75 mph.

An extensive area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms is expected to move into the western Caribbean Sea in coming days.

A broad area of low pressure continues to linger south of the Cayman Islands near the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The U.S.-based National Hurricane Center advised Wednesday that the system had a 30 percent chance of tropical formation by Monday.

Forecasters with the Cayman Islands National Weather Service are keeping their eyes on a broad area of low pressure, currently lingering south of the islands, near Panama.

Tropical Storm Kirk continued its westward trek through the Lesser Antilles on Thursday, and it was measured at 2 p.m. AST with a maximum sustained wind speed of 50 mph.

There’s a newly invigorated storm on the horizon, but analysts do not expect it to threaten Cayman.

Tropical Storm Kirk was downgraded to a depression and then to a tropical wave Monday, days before it had been forecast to reach the eastern Caribbean.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center advised Sunday that Tropical Storm Kirk was moving rapidly westward over the eastern tropical Atlantic.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Isaac are expected to drench the Cayman Islands over the next two days, with the rain starting to decrease Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

A tropical storm that had Grand Cayman in its projected path last week had mostly dissipated in the Caribbean by the weekend, according to a Sunday update by the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.