Hurricane Paloma

Hurricane Paloma is now a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The eye is about 20 miles from Grand Cayman and moving towards us at about 6 mph. No damage around my condo in South Sound yet. I can hear the (presumably very large) waves crashing onto the shore about 200' away.

Stay safe, Alex....at least it looks like the eye isn't going to hit you dead center.

Been following that one. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/storm-watch/259606-td17-forecast-major-hurricane-caymans.html

Good luck....

The all clear has been sounded. Water & power are back on. The Island suffered only minor damage - a few trees down, etc.

I would guess that the airport will be open this afternoon or, at latest, Sunday AM. I would think that shore diving will be possible on Sunday and boat diving as usual on Monday.

Thanks everyone!

Edit: the above applies only to Grand Cayman. Word is that Cayman Brac & Little Cayman got hit pretty hard.

Glad to hear that all is well on GC. My thoughts and prayers are with those on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Hopefully they can get the help they need very soon!

We're looking forward to arriving on Friday and hopefully our tourist dollars will help with all the recovery efforts.

Update: the airport on GC is now open. Reports are coming in of extensive damage to structures and some injuries (but no fatalities) on the Brac. No word from LC yet.

GC fared remarably well. Airport is open. Power outages were minor and sporadic.

There was minimal debris in the road during my drive from George Town to East End.

Ocean Frontiers did have a vessel sink at its mooring. I have not heard reports of any other significant dive related damage.

Any word on damages to Little Cayman yet?

Brac Hit Hard ~

Caribbean Hurricane Network - stormCARIB.com - Local Reports on Tropical Systems threatening the Caribbean Islands

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2008 11:21:38 -0800 (PST)
From: Care Shroy
Subject: Cayman Brac / Brac Reef Beach Resort info

Hello,
My mother is Kathy Shroy one of the managers of Brac Reef Beach Resort. I
have been in contact with her off and on over the past 6 hours. She said
that Brac Reef is a total loss. What is still standing will have to be torn
down.The Lobby, office, gift shop, spa, bar, and restaurant are all
completely demolished. They lost the roof off of the top floor's rooms and
have major damage to the bottom floor's rooms. The staff housing has roof
damage but isn't too bad off.
The 30 tourists who stayed at the hotel are all fine the other 10 who went
to a shelter are also safe. If you could post this on stormcarib for their
families that would be great..They are planning to fly them out this
afternoon as long as they can get the plane in.
I also heard from Perry McLaughlin that all 200 people who stayed on
Little Cayman are safe. There is a lot of damage to the roads but it looks
like they got lucky as far as major damage goes.
Thanks for all your hard work to keep us updated.
Carolyn Shroy

funkyspelunker:

Any word on damages to Little Cayman yet?

Click to expand...

the next post says this:

"Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2008 14:29:20 -0800
I've been in contact with staff at Southern Cross Club on Little Cayman. Just wanted to pass on that all structures, facilities, staff and guests at the club have weathered Paloma surprisingly well. The piers were saved (planking removed prior to the storm) and the dive boats rode out the storm in fine condition. Lost a few palm trees and some shingles, but everything is safe and sound. Guests sheltered in the bungalows with "storm coolers" of drinks and food as well as cell phones for everyone with emergency numbers loaded. They celebrated the passing of Paloma with a breakfast of Eggs Benedict. As soon as power is restored new guests will be accepted."