Hurricane Ivan on Cayman

Sunday, 9/12/04 6:00 am (Cayman Time) update...

I've just spent some time going thru the various weather websites -
since yesterday, anyone who's been closely tracking Ivan knows that it
took a "bump" off of Jamacia and veered significantly west of the
pre-Jamacia paths...as of midday yesterday, Grand Cayman was the target,
and Little Cayman and the Brac were forcast to get "mere" 75mph and
56mph weather respectively.


As of this morning (7AM EDT), eyeballing the sat IR maps makes it look
to me like Ivan's not going to hit Grand Cayman dead-on as per last
night's prediction, but is slanted a bit further west. If the eye makes
it ashore, it will be at 7mi beach, and not further east on the island.


Some of the Cayman-based weather stations are down and no longer
reporting data. Cayman Port's down, ditto the Turtle Farm, as well as
Bill Roger's website on the East End (http://home.hiwaay.net/~brogers/)


Here's the one that I've found to be still up and reporting current
data. It gets data every 10 minutes, although it doesn't appear to be
automatic refresh webpage:


Grand Cayman - South Sound:
http://www.weatherincayman.com/currcndx.htm
or
http://www.weatherincayman.com/


The current conditions as of a few cycles ago was an ENE wind at 50mph,
which has shifted to the NNE and was initially strengthening (52mph),
but has since fallen off in intensity some in the last half hour (33mph).

Peak wind gust was 76mph. Barometer 981.1 mb and falling rapidly. It
appears to currently be raining at a rate of 15 inches/hour.


-hh

Hugh,

Are you going to Divi near the end of the month?

George
" H. Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba@huntzinger.com> wrote in
message
news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba-8D18D9.07054712092004@news-east.dca.giganews.com...
> Sunday, 9/12/04 6:00 am (Cayman Time) update...
>
> I've just spent some time going thru the various weather websites -
> since yesterday, anyone who's been closely tracking Ivan knows that it
> took a "bump" off of Jamacia and veered significantly west of the
> pre-Jamacia paths...as of midday yesterday, Grand Cayman was the target,
> and Little Cayman and the Brac were forcast to get "mere" 75mph and
> 56mph weather respectively.
>
>
> As of this morning (7AM EDT), eyeballing the sat IR maps makes it look
> to me like Ivan's not going to hit Grand Cayman dead-on as per last
> night's prediction, but is slanted a bit further west. If the eye makes
> it ashore, it will be at 7mi beach, and not further east on the island.
>
>
> Some of the Cayman-based weather stations are down and no longer
> reporting data. Cayman Port's down, ditto the Turtle Farm, as well as
> Bill Roger's website on the East End (http://home.hiwaay.net/~brogers/)
>
>
> Here's the one that I've found to be still up and reporting current
> data. It gets data every 10 minutes, although it doesn't appear to be
> automatic refresh webpage:
>
>
> Grand Cayman - South Sound:
> http://www.weatherincayman.com/currcndx.htm
> or
> http://www.weatherincayman.com/
>
>
> The current conditions as of a few cycles ago was an ENE wind at 50mph,
> which has shifted to the NNE and was initially strengthening (52mph),
> but has since fallen off in intensity some in the last half hour (33mph).
>
> Peak wind gust was 76mph. Barometer 981.1 mb and falling rapidly. It
> appears to currently be raining at a rate of 15 inches/hour.
>
>
> -hh

"George Price" <gprice3@cfl.rr.com> wrote:

> Hugh,
>
> Are you going to Divi near the end of the month?


No. Information's spotty, but based on the unofficial reports, I don't
think any divers are going to be visiting the Divi or Brac Reef this
month...or possibly a good part of October as well.

Even though it looks like the Brac escaped the worst, the hit on Grand
Cayman is on their "supply line" for resources, and with all of Florida
also needing materials, they may be down longer than what we would
normally expect due to shortages of building materials. Ditto for
Little Cayman.


On Ivan, here's a summary of what I've been able to collect together:


Cayman Brac:

People: reports have said no casualties. I believe there were 500 in
the Shelter, plus many people chose to go to the caves.

Winds/Seas - winds of 56mph were forecast; they saw 75+mph. There's
been conflicting reports on water, with some reports saying 15-20ft
waves, others saying 15-20ft storm surge...there's a huge difference
between the two. I personally suspect the former (waves), only because
it seems unlikely that the storm surge at the Brac would be equal to
what Grand Cayman apparently saw.

Damage - Power's being restored; phones are up except for international
calls. Severe erosion on the south side of the Brac along with severe
road flooding (3 places) & some undermining of the road. The North side
reportedly got off relatively unscathed. For buildings, there is "no
complete destruction of any structures", which probably means nothing
obviously flattened.

The major hit was that all docks at the South West End (eg, all of the
resorts) are gone. The unconfirmed word on Diveboats is that a some had
been evacuated over to Grand Cayman before the storm. Not sure who all
went, but Reef Divers (Brac/LCBR)'s took all theirs over, as their crews
are reportedly OK on Grand Cayman (they're at the Mariott Courtyard).
No word on how any boats that were in the mangrove on Grand Cayman made
out, but the current assumption is that any boats on Grand Cayman were
probably trashed.

Summary: enough news on the big pieces: it appears that everyone's OK
and damage wasn't too bad. The biggest obvious hits are docks and
diveboats: the former is known destroyed and the latter's an unknown.



Little Cayman:

People: appears most everyone pulled thru OK; no known casualties.
Many left the island before the storm. Charley Beaumont, Gladys, Betty,
& Robin were in the shelter by the jail and were reportedly OK. The
Shroys, the Blagans, James, Larry, Bruce and Nelvie, two fireman, and
Johnny and Valda were in a shelter and that everyone in the shelter was
also reported to be fine (not sure if this is the same shelter or not).
There were a few in private homes whose condition are unknown.

Wind/Seas: LC's forecast of 70mph winds was hit by 9pm Saturday...docks
went away at 45mph, when the south coast waves hit 15-20ft. Reportedly
experienced sustained winds of ~110mph and gusts to 155mph.


Damage: Whitman took the Fire Truck yesterday at dawn to do an island
survey. He said that Southern Cross lost at least one building and that
the lighthouse point condos took a major hit. The north coast road was
flooded; no news there or about Blossom Village, LCBR, or Pirates Point.
The Splash House is gone (comment was "no big surprise there"). In
general, extensive damage along the south coast.

Summary: very spotty reports, but reportedly no loss of life. Some
buildings known to be damaged/destroyed; more currently unknown.
Appears to have taken more damage than the Brac (which makes sense).


Grand Cayman:

People: most appear to be OK, but there's been at least one unconfirmed
rumor of 'bodies floating near a firetruck'. Might be associated with
an unconfirmed report that the East End shelter may have gone down...?
No casualty report as of yet, but I suspect that there might be.

Wind/seas: Probably hit 155mph sustained, with gusts to 190-200mph.
Vehicles in flood-prone areas have are said to have "just disappeared"
underwater; some floated away. Many apparently had their car alarms
going off until they shorted out. Owen Roberts International Airport
was at one point 4-5ft underwater, and the storm surge reportedly
connected the North Sound with the South Sound at Newlands, similar to
what happened in the '32 Storm. The Grand Caymanian Resort (past the
Links golf course at Safehaven) flooded almost to the second floor,
which infers a 10+ft storm surge...CaymanNewNews reported it as 15ft,
possibly up to 20ft of storm surge.


Grand Cayman Map to locate Newlands:
http://www.eandbcaymans.com/Detail%2...d%20Cayman.jpg


Damage: sounds very extensive. Rumors of a shelter taking damage.
The Cayman Islander hotel across from Treasure Island resort has not
only lost it's roof but the whole second floor: "The ex-pats were the
last to be told about evacuation, and there was no room for them on the
planes." Kirk Home Center's roof collapsed, AL Thompsons' roof half
gone. Huntlaw Building lost its roof. Marriott Resort had windows
blown out. West Bay cut off Industrial Park under water. The
Queensgate House (a waterfront commercial office building on the south
side of the capital overlooking the harbor), had 80% of its roof blown
off, and this statistic will probably be misapplied by the Media as "80%
damage to structures" (NHC's educated guess is 25-50%). Back at the
airport, windows were blown out of the control tower, which probably
affected the airport¹s equipment and their ability to operate. Rescue
flights maybe starting today.

No word on the [dive]boats moored in the mangroves, but people aren't
being particularly optimistic. No word on the Turtle Farm, either.

Summary: sounds like stuff got tore up bad, but most people OK. Cable
& Wireless cellphone service is up and the lines are jammed: text
messaging is the way to go. This technology has helped to allay a lot
of the family concerns of not knowing. If you have family to contact,
you can go to the "Help" page at: http://www.stormcarib.com


-hh

Thanks for the report.

As usual, you are the best source for the Cayman Islands, and what's really
happening there.

I'm trying to find words.....Damn!

The report from GC was the air was like foam on the news.

We've had two hurricanes roll through Orlando in as many weeks, but nothing
like that; maybe with the devastation in Punta Gorda, but not here. We have
a lot of trees down, loss of power, but not four feet of water rolling
through the house.

I can't believe the people on Brac would go to the caves with storm
surge...I can't imagine them being much more than 10ft above sea level;
sounds like a death trap. It's a shame they don't make shelter literally
"on the brac" for this. For the people that have not been; "the Brac" is a
120 ft cliff (brac is a form for cliff in Old English) as I understand it.
Much higher than anywhere in the Cayman Islands. I recall seing something
like 15 feet above sea level for Grand Cayman, and can't imagine that Little
Cayman is much more.

Not that it's a big concern, but it seems ironic that after all of these
years that the new bar at Divi is probably on it's way to GC as well.

So the Divi docks are gone? I guess the recovering stag horn coral at the
reefs just off shore have been trashed,....again.
I remember one Bunny the DM (yeah, really) told us how magnificent the
staghorn coral was just off the front reef in front of Divi, until, I think
it was Gilbert, wiped it out.

Owen Roberts airport under four feet of water! There's that 15ft above sea
level for you. And I thought I had problems when they couldn't get a
battery to start a plane enginein GC! I can't imagine how wiped out the
Georgetown area is.

Again, thanks for the report.

George


" H. Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba@huntzinger.com> wrote in
message
news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba-369DF2.08115813092004@news-east.dca.giganews.com...
> "George Price" <gprice3@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
>
> > Hugh,
> >
> > Are you going to Divi near the end of the month?
>
>
> No. Information's spotty, but based on the unofficial reports, I don't
> think any divers are going to be visiting the Divi or Brac Reef this
> month...or possibly a good part of October as well.
>
> Even though it looks like the Brac escaped the worst, the hit on Grand
> Cayman is on their "supply line" for resources, and with all of Florida
> also needing materials, they may be down longer than what we would
> normally expect due to shortages of building materials. Ditto for
> Little Cayman.
>
>
> On Ivan, here's a summary of what I've been able to collect together:
>
>
> Cayman Brac:
>
> People: reports have said no casualties. I believe there were 500 in
> the Shelter, plus many people chose to go to the caves.
>
> Winds/Seas - winds of 56mph were forecast; they saw 75+mph. There's
> been conflicting reports on water, with some reports saying 15-20ft
> waves, others saying 15-20ft storm surge...there's a huge difference
> between the two. I personally suspect the former (waves), only because
> it seems unlikely that the storm surge at the Brac would be equal to
> what Grand Cayman apparently saw.
>
> Damage - Power's being restored; phones are up except for international
> calls. Severe erosion on the south side of the Brac along with severe
> road flooding (3 places) & some undermining of the road. The North side
> reportedly got off relatively unscathed. For buildings, there is "no
> complete destruction of any structures", which probably means nothing
> obviously flattened.
>
> The major hit was that all docks at the South West End (eg, all of the
> resorts) are gone. The unconfirmed word on Diveboats is that a some had
> been evacuated over to Grand Cayman before the storm. Not sure who all
> went, but Reef Divers (Brac/LCBR)'s took all theirs over, as their crews
> are reportedly OK on Grand Cayman (they're at the Mariott Courtyard).
> No word on how any boats that were in the mangrove on Grand Cayman made
> out, but the current assumption is that any boats on Grand Cayman were
> probably trashed.
>
> Summary: enough news on the big pieces: it appears that everyone's OK
> and damage wasn't too bad. The biggest obvious hits are docks and
> diveboats: the former is known destroyed and the latter's an unknown.
>
>
>
> Little Cayman:
>
> People: appears most everyone pulled thru OK; no known casualties.
> Many left the island before the storm. Charley Beaumont, Gladys, Betty,
> & Robin were in the shelter by the jail and were reportedly OK. The
> Shroys, the Blagans, James, Larry, Bruce and Nelvie, two fireman, and
> Johnny and Valda were in a shelter and that everyone in the shelter was
> also reported to be fine (not sure if this is the same shelter or not).
> There were a few in private homes whose condition are unknown.
>
> Wind/Seas: LC's forecast of 70mph winds was hit by 9pm Saturday...docks
> went away at 45mph, when the south coast waves hit 15-20ft. Reportedly
> experienced sustained winds of ~110mph and gusts to 155mph.
>
>
> Damage: Whitman took the Fire Truck yesterday at dawn to do an island
> survey. He said that Southern Cross lost at least one building and that
> the lighthouse point condos took a major hit. The north coast road was
> flooded; no news there or about Blossom Village, LCBR, or Pirates Point.
> The Splash House is gone (comment was "no big surprise there"). In
> general, extensive damage along the south coast.
>
> Summary: very spotty reports, but reportedly no loss of life. Some
> buildings known to be damaged/destroyed; more currently unknown.
> Appears to have taken more damage than the Brac (which makes sense).
>
>
> Grand Cayman:
>
> People: most appear to be OK, but there's been at least one unconfirmed
> rumor of 'bodies floating near a firetruck'. Might be associated with
> an unconfirmed report that the East End shelter may have gone down...?
> No casualty report as of yet, but I suspect that there might be.
>
> Wind/seas: Probably hit 155mph sustained, with gusts to 190-200mph.
> Vehicles in flood-prone areas have are said to have "just disappeared"
> underwater; some floated away. Many apparently had their car alarms
> going off until they shorted out. Owen Roberts International Airport
> was at one point 4-5ft underwater, and the storm surge reportedly
> connected the North Sound with the South Sound at Newlands, similar to
> what happened in the '32 Storm. The Grand Caymanian Resort (past the
> Links golf course at Safehaven) flooded almost to the second floor,
> which infers a 10+ft storm surge...CaymanNewNews reported it as 15ft,
> possibly up to 20ft of storm surge.
>
>
> Grand Cayman Map to locate Newlands:
> http://www.eandbcaymans.com/Detail%2...d%20Cayman.jpg
>
>
> Damage: sounds very extensive. Rumors of a shelter taking damage.
> The Cayman Islander hotel across from Treasure Island resort has not
> only lost it's roof but the whole second floor: "The ex-pats were the
> last to be told about evacuation, and there was no room for them on the
> planes." Kirk Home Center's roof collapsed, AL Thompsons' roof half
> gone. Huntlaw Building lost its roof. Marriott Resort had windows
> blown out. West Bay cut off Industrial Park under water. The
> Queensgate House (a waterfront commercial office building on the south
> side of the capital overlooking the harbor), had 80% of its roof blown
> off, and this statistic will probably be misapplied by the Media as "80%
> damage to structures" (NHC's educated guess is 25-50%). Back at the
> airport, windows were blown out of the control tower, which probably
> affected the airport¹s equipment and their ability to operate. Rescue
> flights maybe starting today.
>
> No word on the [dive]boats moored in the mangroves, but people aren't
> being particularly optimistic. No word on the Turtle Farm, either.
>
> Summary: sounds like stuff got tore up bad, but most people OK. Cable
> & Wireless cellphone service is up and the lines are jammed: text
> messaging is the way to go. This technology has helped to allay a lot
> of the family concerns of not knowing. If you have family to contact,
> you can go to the "Help" page at: http://www.stormcarib.com
>
>
> -hh

" H. Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba@huntzinger.com> wrote in
message
news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba-8D18D9.07054712092004@news-east.dca.giganews.com...
> Sunday, 9/12/04 6:00 am (Cayman Time) update...
>
> I've just spent some time going thru the various weather websites -
> since yesterday, anyone who's been closely tracking Ivan knows that it
> took a "bump" off of Jamacia and veered significantly west of the
> pre-Jamacia paths...as of midday yesterday, Grand Cayman was the target,
> and Little Cayman and the Brac were forcast to get "mere" 75mph and
> 56mph weather respectively.
>
>
> As of this morning (7AM EDT), eyeballing the sat IR maps makes it look
> to me like Ivan's not going to hit Grand Cayman dead-on as per last
> night's prediction, but is slanted a bit further west. If the eye makes
> it ashore, it will be at 7mi beach, and not further east on the island.
>
>
> Some of the Cayman-based weather stations are down and no longer
> reporting data. Cayman Port's down, ditto the Turtle Farm, as well as
> Bill Roger's website on the East End (http://home.hiwaay.net/~brogers/)
>
>
> Here's the one that I've found to be still up and reporting current
> data. It gets data every 10 minutes, although it doesn't appear to be
> automatic refresh webpage:
>
>
> Grand Cayman - South Sound:
> http://www.weatherincayman.com/currcndx.htm
> or
> http://www.weatherincayman.com/
>
>
> The current conditions as of a few cycles ago was an ENE wind at 50mph,
> which has shifted to the NNE and was initially strengthening (52mph),
> but has since fallen off in intensity some in the last half hour (33mph).
>
> Peak wind gust was 76mph. Barometer 981.1 mb and falling rapidly. It
> appears to currently be raining at a rate of 15 inches/hour.

We got one in today;

It is wasted. Cat 5 when it hit.

Waiting to hear more.

Not good, but no reports of death yet. <fingers and toes crossed>

Scott

"George Price" <gprice3@cfl.rr.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the report.
>
> As usual, you are the best source for the Cayman Islands, and what's really
> happening there.
>
> I'm trying to find words.....Damn!

Grand Cayman is pretty flat right now. The UK Royal Navy arrived
yesterday, but wasn't able to put ashore (too rough), but they did a
survey from the air. There's now a couple of photos taken from the air
on Yahoo's News website:

http://tinyurl.com/5mude



> I can't believe the people on Brac would go to the caves with storm
> surge...I can't imagine them being much more than 10ft above sea level;
> sounds like a death trap.

On the Brac, the classic "hurricane cave" is Peter's cave high above
Spot Bay; its ~120ft above sea level...nearly the highest spot on the
island.


> It's a shame they don't make shelter literally
> "on the brac" for this.

Actually, they do have a dedicated hurricane shelter: that's the Ashton
Ruddy Center. Its on the top of the bluff on the eastern cross-island
road...elevation's probably around 80ft above sea level. Reportedly,
roughly 500 people rode out the storm there.


> For the people that have not been; "the Brac" is a
> 120 ft cliff (brac is a form for cliff in Old English) as I understand it.

Minor nits: 140ft and Gaelic.



> Much higher than anywhere in the Cayman Islands. I recall seing something
> like 15 feet above sea level for Grand Cayman, and can't imagine that Little
> Cayman is much more.

Little Cayman has Sparrowhawk Hill and Weary Hill. Both are just a bit
over 40ft above sea level.


> Not that it's a big concern, but it seems ironic that after all of these
> years that the new bar at Divi is probably on it's way to GC as well.

Maybe, maybe not. I agree that it was in a pretty vulnerable looking
place, but IIRC, it was on pilings that would allow sea to pass
underneath, and the fringing reef of Dick Sessinger's Bay does
historically do a lot to cut down the incoming surf height. When I rode
out Hurricane Lily there in '02, the ~15ft combers outside were only
~3ft waves inside. Gilbert ('88) reportedly had 20ft waves outside and
only 6ft waves inside. If the storm surge wasn't too great, the bar
could have survived.


> So the Divi docks are gone?

Still no definitive word yet...just the broad-brush reports of "[most]
are gone or severely damaged".


> I guess the recovering stag horn coral at the
> reefs just off shore have been trashed,....again.
> I remember one Bunny the DM (yeah, really) told us how magnificent the
> staghorn coral was just off the front reef in front of Divi, until, I think
> it was Gilbert, wiped it out.

That staghorn had been really starting to make a comeback too. Last I
heard, Bunny was working for the fire department, so I'm sure he's been
busy.


> Owen Roberts airport under four feet of water! There's that 15ft above sea
> level for you. And I thought I had problems when they couldn't get a
> battery to start a plane enginein GC!

Anyone claiming Owen Roberts is 15ft above sea level is smoking
something at low tide. I'd put it at no more than 10ft and possibly as
low as 5ft above mean high tide.


> I can't imagine how wiped out the Georgetown area is.

It sounds pretty bad from what I've read, and there's been some looting.
The good news is that the official count is still zero fatalities -
seems that several of the rumors were just that. I do believe that I
read a report that a cemetery had been breached, and knowing how the
Caymanians like to bury along the waterfront, this sounds quite
possible. And as such, these rumors could be explained as a grim repeat
of the 1932 hurricane, namely uprooted bodies from a cemetery.

FWIW, a late report yesterday is that they're looking to evacuate 400
people from Grand Cayman over to Cayman Brac, which should give us some
measure and pause as to just how hard Grand Cayman was hit.


-hh

On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 04:22:22 GMT, "George Price" <gprice3@cfl.rr.com>
wrote:

>Thanks for the report.
>
>As usual, you are the best source for the Cayman Islands, and what's really
>happening there.

Ditto - great information. Thanks.

-HW "Skip" Weldon
Columbia, SC

" H. Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba@huntzinger.com> wrote in
message
news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba-84853B.08145314092004@news-east.dca.giganews.com...
> "George Price" <gprice3@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
>
> > Thanks for the report.
> >
> > As usual, you are the best source for the Cayman Islands, and what's
really
> > happening there.
> >
> > I'm trying to find words.....Damn!
>
> Grand Cayman is pretty flat right now. The UK Royal Navy arrived
> yesterday, but wasn't able to put ashore (too rough), but they did a
> survey from the air. There's now a couple of photos taken from the air
> on Yahoo's News website:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/5mude

Here is another one:

http://help.stormcarib.com/list.php?f=3

Also heard the surge cut the island in half, but is receding.

Sunset house is flat.

" H. Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba@huntzinger.com> wrote in
message
news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba-84853B.08145314092004@news-east.dca.giganews.com...
> "George Price" <gprice3@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks for the report.
>>
>> As usual, you are the best source for the Cayman Islands, and what's
>> really
>> happening there.
>>
>> I'm trying to find words.....Damn!
>
> Grand Cayman is pretty flat right now. The UK Royal Navy arrived
> yesterday, but wasn't able to put ashore (too rough), but they did a
> survey from the air. There's now a couple of photos taken from the air
> on Yahoo's News website:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/5mude
>
>
>
>> I can't believe the people on Brac would go to the caves with storm
>> surge...I can't imagine them being much more than 10ft above sea level;
>> sounds like a death trap.
>
> On the Brac, the classic "hurricane cave" is Peter's cave high above
> Spot Bay; its ~120ft above sea level...nearly the highest spot on the
> island.
>
I guess that was pretty stupid thinking they would go to the caves at the
base of the Brac. I remember a "Bat Cave" somewhere in that vicinity, but
it didn't look like it went back very far. I would imagine the one you
speak of offers some shelter.

>
>> It's a shame they don't make shelter literally
>> "on the brac" for this.
>
> Actually, they do have a dedicated hurricane shelter: that's the Ashton
> Ruddy Center. Its on the top of the bluff on the eastern cross-island
> road...elevation's probably around 80ft above sea level. Reportedly,
> roughly 500 people rode out the storm there.
>
When did they build that?
>
>> For the people that have not been; "the Brac" is a
>> 120 ft cliff (brac is a form for cliff in Old English) as I understand
>> it.
>
> Minor nits: 140ft and Gaelic.

I think I was quoting tourtist info from a few neurons still holding hands.

>> Much higher than anywhere in the Cayman Islands. I recall seing
>> something
>> like 15 feet above sea level for Grand Cayman, and can't imagine that
>> Little
>> Cayman is much more.
>
> Little Cayman has Sparrowhawk Hill and Weary Hill. Both are just a bit
> over 40ft above sea level.

It seemed the island had some elevation in places from the air.
>
>> Not that it's a big concern, but it seems ironic that after all of these
>> years that the new bar at Divi is probably on it's way to GC as well.
>
> Maybe, maybe not. I agree that it was in a pretty vulnerable looking
> place, but IIRC, it was on pilings that would allow sea to pass
> underneath, and the fringing reef of Dick Sessinger's Bay does
> historically do a lot to cut down the incoming surf height. When I rode
> out Hurricane Lily there in '02, the ~15ft combers outside were only
> ~3ft waves inside. Gilbert ('88) reportedly had 20ft waves outside and
> only 6ft waves inside. If the storm surge wasn't too great, the bar
> could have survived.
>
>
>> So the Divi docks are gone?
>
> Still no definitive word yet...just the broad-brush reports of "[most]
> are gone or severely damaged".
>
>
>> I guess the recovering stag horn coral at the
>> reefs just off shore have been trashed,....again.
>> I remember one Bunny the DM (yeah, really) told us how magnificent the
>> staghorn coral was just off the front reef in front of Divi, until, I
>> think
>> it was Gilbert, wiped it out.
>
> That staghorn had been really starting to make a comeback too. Last I
> heard, Bunny was working for the fire department, so I'm sure he's been
> busy.
>

Great DM; I thought anyone reading this would have thought that some of
those neurons holding hands had just let go. I had to figure you would know
who he was. BTW, is Lenny still at The Captains Table? I figured his work
visa would run into problems, or such by now, ie.; the McLaughlins (sp?)
>
>> Owen Roberts airport under four feet of water! There's that 15ft above
>> sea
>> level for you. And I thought I had problems when they couldn't get a
>> battery to start a plane enginein GC!
>
> Anyone claiming Owen Roberts is 15ft above sea level is smoking
> something at low tide. I'd put it at no more than 10ft and possibly as
> low as 5ft above mean high tide.

Again, general tourist info. I recall seeing that as "the average" for the
island .
>
>> I can't imagine how wiped out the Georgetown area is.
>
> It sounds pretty bad from what I've read, and there's been some looting.

So, we've given a literal meaning to "Kirk Freeport".

> The good news is that the official count is still zero fatalities -
> seems that several of the rumors were just that. I do believe that I
> read a report that a cemetery had been breached, and knowing how the
> Caymanians like to bury along the waterfront, this sounds quite
> possible. And as such, these rumors could be explained as a grim repeat
> of the 1932 hurricane, namely uprooted bodies from a cemetery.

I can imagine. They have to make graves out of ironshore, which would have
no drainage.
Can you imagine what New Orleans is going to be like in a day or two?; even
though they bury above ground, if it floods...............
>
> FWIW, a late report yesterday is that they're looking to evacuate 400
> people from Grand Cayman over to Cayman Brac, which should give us some
> measure and pause as to just how hard Grand Cayman was hit.
>
> -hh

Marriott Resort had windows
> blown out.
Having just been evacuated from the marriott on wednesday after spending the
last week there, broken windows
is an understatement. The front entry canopy collapsed, the front facade is
missing, the lobby was under several
feet of water, no electricity, water, food, major damage to the hotel. TI
is similar. I walked through there and
the damange is very extensive. Regards.