Darbo_wrx

my sister and her bf live on grand cayman and have just reported back that the island has been devastated by hurricane ivan
bulding's turned to piles of rubble
entire shopping blocks washed into the sea
houses in bits
power's off
no water
sewage contamination of water available
no supermarkets as they have all blown away

she cannot belive there hasnt been major loss of life


and yet no mention on the news even though its a british colony??

there discrption is that unless you see what its like you wouldnt be able to comprehend it


Just seems very strange to me

Darbo

Old_Fart

By Greg Frost
MIAMI, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Hurricane Ivan smashed apartment complexes to bits, washed away many homes and damaged nearly all the roofs in the Cayman Islands, residents of the battered Caribbean offshore finance hub said on Tuesday.
Ivan, churning through the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday toward U.S. shores, has killed at least 68 people and left a trail of devastation in the Caribbean. It reduced homes to rubble as it inflicted a near-direct hit on Sunday on the three tiny islands that make up the British territory of 45,000 people.
No deaths were reported.
But damage was extensive. There was still no electricity or running water, residents said, and phone service was patchy.
"This is the first time in the modern history of the Cayman Islands that people have felt what it is like to be without modern conveniences for any extended period of time," Cayman Net News, an online news service, reported.
Taxi driver Tabitha Piercy said many homes were destroyed on the eastern end of Grand Cayman, the largest island.
"Hundreds of homes are gone -- they are rubble. Basically, walls have caved in," she told Reuters in a telephone interview. "In my apartment the roof is missing. I have gone in to salvage what I can."
Mariners Cove, a complex of 20 apartments, was "washed into the street," Piercy said.
"It was taken right off its foundations basically. Totally gone, not one unit left," she said.

FISH WASHED INTO HOMES
Piercy reckoned that 95 percent of homes on Grand Cayman suffered roof damage -- echoing a figure given by the British government in London.
Peter O'Neill, a banker who has lived on Grand Cayman for six years, said Ivan lashed the island with winds of up to 200 mph (320 kph) and pushed the seas far inland.
"It sent a wave across the island. Fish were found three miles (five km) inland in people's homes," O'Neill said in a telephone interview, adding authorities had imposed a curfew as a result of looting during Sunday's hurricane strike.
Before the line went dead, O'Neill said it may take weeks and maybe months for crews to restore power to all parts of the island.
Two British ships were off the coast of Grand Cayman, the HMS Richmond and the auxiliary fleet tanker Wave Ruler.
Paul Parrack, a spokesman for the Royal Navy, said two boats from the HMS Richmond managed to go ashore at Grand Cayman on Tuesday afternoon despite very rough weather.
The island's hospital is fully functional and it did not appear medical teams would need to go ashore, Parrack said.
(Additional reporting by Jim Loney)
((Editing by Eric Walsh; Reuters Messaging: greg.frost.reuters.com@reuters.net; +1 305 810 2688))

For related news, double click on one of the following codes:
[G] [ESL] [C] [D] [E] [M] [O] [T] [U] [MTL] [GRO] [SOF] [OIL] [MNI] [NAT] [ELN] [UKI] [EMK] [NEWS] [WEA] [DIS] [LEI] [KY] [SHP] [AIR] [CRU] [NGS] [LATAM] [US] [FIN] [INS] [GB] [ELG] [LEN] [RTRS]

Tuesday, 14 September 2004 21:21:44
RTRS [nN14235638]

Old_Fart

It is on the news, but it isn't really headline news because the stupid tabloid-obsessed sun reading masses that are the British don't recognise the name 'Caymans' and can only empathise with the more commercial touristy islands that have been hit.
Chuck

andrewdelvard

Whole load of them on the BBC news website.
Here's just 2.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3655530.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3654876.stm

Darbo_wrx

luckly they have only lost a few roof tiles as there house was new built to proper regs

but they are both jobless as divers world were they worked is in the sea the whole block of shops it was attached to is no longer there

no quick cleanup job that's for sure

but you would think that it would be on the Main News at least once?
if there has been no loss of life they have been very lucky as alot of houses on cayman are poorly built imo

Old_Fart

Glad to hear they 'got off lightly', at least property-wise. Hope the island can get itself cleaned up and running again shortly
Cman

ChrisB

I caught a phone interview with the Captain of the RN Frigate that had docked in Grand Cayman to assist on BBC 1 News one night, so it did make prime time news.

Darbo_wrx

their boss has to rebuild both his busness and his house as both were destroyed

unbeliveable to think that in a weeks time every thing you own could be in pieces and you would have to start all over again
My mum and dad are ment to be going on holiday there in october
ive told him to lock his house up well take his toolkit (he's a joiner) and stay there till its fixed
as i think the caymanians will be in need of all the help they can get

Darbo

andrewdelvard

To be honest no I wouldn't. You have family there so it's to the forefront of your mind.

Hammy Hamster

Which news programs do you watch then, Alja-wotsit?

I walk around with my eyes closed half the time and I still managed to see a lot of coverage in the British media.

As previously said, quite a bit about the frigate going to help.

Brit_in_Japan

Isn't the problem that there are no film crews on the ground in the Caymens, or maybe it's not easy to get the news out? I think I've seen pictures from a RN helicopter, but the airport is out of action so no journalists are going into or out of the Caymens right now.

I've similarly been following news about St Lucia as a friends family comes from there. They suffered damage, but were spared from the worst of it.