CIG estate holds up after 7.7M quake

(CNS): Government properties have withstood the major earthquake and multiple aftershocks that struck the Cayman Islands Tuesday, officials have said. In a press release Wednesday, GIS stated that a cross-departmental damage assessment found only superficial damage to public buildings caused by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake and the more than a dozen aftershocks.

“Robust building codes and stringent inspection processes have resulted in minimal damage caused by the 7.7 earthquake,” officials stated.

Teams from the Department of Planning, National Roads Authority, Public Works Department and District Administration conducted a systematic assessment of buildings. Beginning with the most significant ones in terms of occupancy or vulnerable ground conditions, the teams moved methodically across the islands. On Grand Cayman the focus was on West Bay, Seven Mile Beach and Bodden Town.

The reported damage was said to be superficial, including minor structural damage to windows and some plumbing or leaking issues in West Bay. Officials are primarily monitoring issues of structural integrity, such as cracks to buildings and damage to pipelines that may pose a hazard, but there does nto appear to have been any significant damage.

The planning ministry is asking homeowners to conduct assessments on their own properties and to consult with private structural engineers or the department if concerned.

Planning Director Haroon Pandohie said the building code standards were important in saving the islands’ structures.

“It is testament to the processes we have implemented that teams from planning have found no serious damage after Tuesday’s sizable earthquake,” he said. “We will continue to conduct thorough assessments to ensure that remains the case. The public should take precautions and remain vigilant to the possibility of changing conditions and unstable ground,” he added.

Sinkholes, however, remain a concern on all three islands. The NRA has assessed the road network and Director Ed Howard said teams are constantly monitoring and responding to reports of the holes. Repairs are currently underway at several locations.

The Public Works Department’s (PWD) has been assisting the Department of Planning through assessments to the structural integrity of schools across Grand Cayman. Working with the Department of Education and their facilities management teams, the main concern is to ensure that the schools are safe for children and staff to return. 

Planning Minister Joey Hew thanked all those involved and the public for reporting information. “We are thankful that there was no loss of life and not much damage, considering the size and power of the earthquake and its aftershocks,” Hew said. “Our crews from Department of Planning, NRA and Public Works Department continue to conduct assessments at this time and we should have more to report in the coming days.”

He urged people to notify the NRA of any damage to Grand Cayman’s road network so they can quickly assess and remediate it.

On the Sister Islands no significant damage has been reported yet, however planning staff are ready to help there too if necessary. An education inspector will be going to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman today.

Meanwhile, the Water Authority has confirmed that the water is now back for nearly all its customers. The only places where service is still cut is at Mary Read Crescent, off South Sound Road, and parts of Windsor Park because of the complexity of the repairs required due to sinkholes in the area. Restoration efforts are needed to allow the water to be switched on and crews are working diligently to restore service.

However, all customers might experience low water pressure or intermittent service as work continues, or if further aftershocks hit the islands.

Gelia Frederick van-Genderen, the Water Authority director, said the sinkholes impacted the network and the decision to shut off the system was to protect it and systematically inspect and assess over 300 miles of pipeline.

“This is a very manual and labour intensive process,” she said in a statement. “It requires our workers to manipulate many of the approximately 2,000 valves across the island, isolating specific areas for closer inspection, identifying potential leaks.

“We also have to simultaneously monitor the water pressure, ensuring that the rest of the system is not negatively impacted or result in water loss. This process is made more challenging in an emergency scenario, where there are many unknown variables that come up as we move forward through the process.”

Frederick van-Genderen explained that this was why it had been difficult for the authority to provide a timeline of service restoration, as would be the case in a normal outage. “We understand the difficulty in not having water, and we thank our customers for their patience in this ongoing effort,” she added.

Members of the public are urged to report any sinkholes not yet recorded on public roads to the NRA on 525-1251 and can monitor the general situation and updates at here.

---