Cayman all clear as Delta barrels toward Mexico

| 05/10/2020 | 88 Comments
Click to enlarge NOAA graphic

(CNS) UPDATED 2pm: After rapidly increasing to a category 4 mid-morning, Tuesday, Hurricane Delta was barrelling towards the Yucatan Peninsular when Cayman was given the all clear at 1pm. Delta had developed from a tropical depression to a major hurricane in the space of a day, but the Cayman Islands dodged the worst of it as the track eventually took the hurricane over 120 miles southwest of our area. At 1pm Hurricane Delta was packing winds of 140mph as it moved west-northwest at 16 mph.

While officials gave the all clear and lifted the tropical storm warning for all of the Cayman Islands, the shoreline, beaches and coastal areas are expected to continue to face severe and dangerous wave action.

The National Weather Service warned that severe marine wave action will continue for the next 24 to 48 hours for all three Cayman Islands due to the expected rough seas and rain bands produced by Hurricane Delta.

Everyone is urged to stay away from the shoreline and practice extreme caution near the waters. Stores, however, began to reopen Tuesday afternoon, though schools and most government offices were expected to remain closed until Wednesday morning.

Message from the premier
Message from the deputy governor

In a statement released Tuesday morning, as Delta was at its closest point to Grand Cayman, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson had warned residents about the potential dangers of the storm.

“This is a powerful hurricane that is not yet past. We are expecting to experience tropical storm conditions including winds of 40mph for the next few hours,” he said. “Rough seas are expected to continue for some time after that.” Manderson asked the public to stay tuned to local media for up-to-date information but also to stay inside unless they need to travel for essential reasons, and in particular to avoid the shoreline until they are told it is safe.

“Anything else would be putting their lives at risk and those of any essential workers who might be called in to rescue them. Let’s all stay smart and stay safe,” he added.

Residents in the Seven Mile Beach area are urged to seek shelter or move to higher floors as very rough seas are forecast along the south coast.

The Cayman Islands remain under a tropical storm watch and the Red Cross Shelter on Huldah Avenue and the John Gray High School shelter where pets are welcome are open. All other shelters are on standby based on need.

Residents in Savannah Gully and the surrounding area are urged to exercise caution due to potential flooding and should avoid driving if possible as water can be deep and may cause vehicular damage. The National Emergency Operations Centre can be contacted at 949-6555 for non-emergency related matters. All emergencies should be directed to 911.

During the Monday afternoon press briefing, John Tibbetts, the director of the National Weather Service, warned of heavy rain and possible strong winds tonight and early tomorrow morning. Delta is now forecast to pass much further to the west of the Cayman Islands than first predicted.

Tibbetts said the forecast had improved for Cayman, as the storm moves further away. “But we are not out of the woods yet,” he said, warning that storm-force winds could pound the west of the islands for a couple of hours overnight Monday/Tuesday.

DG Manderson, who chairs the National Hazard Management Council, said there were no concerns about the preparedness as everything had gone very well. All government emergency services are on stand-by and shelters in all districts are ready if they are required.

The governor pointed out on Monday that all protocols were in place, including preparations for the post-storm clean-up. He said that if the situation was worse than expected, two British naval ships are currently in the Caribbean and could come to our assistance.

Meanwhile, officials said that only one person in home-isolation for COVID-19 has been move into a government facility. All those in government quarantine who are in hotels on the coast have been moved to the second floors as a precaution. Further contingency plans are in place if it is required to move them to shelters, but given the current forecast, government officials are confident that they are safe and secure.

See the full press briefing on CIGTV below:


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Category: Science & Nature, Weather

Comments (88)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Killed just as many people as Covid, with much less damage to the economy.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Six times this season, southern Louisiana has been in the forecast cone of a tropical system..
    😢😭😲

  3. Anonymous says:

    God spared us another nasty one. I could have sworn he was going to punish us for the civil unions. Guess he did not give a rat’s ass after all.

    • Anonymous says:

      🙀😿👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👨‍❤️‍👨

      I can’t believe it is going in the same direction again and again. Gulf Coast states took it how many times this year? They are still recovering from Sally and Laura.

    • Anonymous says:

      Gay people don’t cause hurricanes, straight people do with their reproduction and breeding which leads to overpopulation which leads to global warming.

      • Anonymous says:

        “maybe if we downvote this enough it’ll erase the facts”

      • Anonymous says:

        If your mother and father didn’t have sex you wouldn’t be here. What were they thinking?!

        • Anonymous says:

          Actually wouldn’t have minded, as Earth would have one less human generating waste and emissions.

          I didn’t ask, after all.

        • Anonymous says:

          My mother and father were each other’s first cousins, they should not have been having sex with each other in the first place.

  4. Anonymous says:

    CNS – have there ever been any storms named after the Greek alphabet to have had their names retired? Wondering if Delta will be the first?

    CNS: Sorry, no idea.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Okay, Cayman was spared this time. 🌊💨⛈

    • Anonymous says:

      Waves aren’t here yet. Remember Michelle? Nice still sunny day, and then bam!!

      • Anonymous says:

        Really? For those of us who weren’t here for Michelle, can somebody tell us what happened? Thanks,

        • Anonymous says:

          Don’t go swimming just yet

          • Anonymous says:

            Lol bunch of us were having a time playing in the waves at Governor’s Beach yesterday evening. So much fun running into a huge wave and having it push you right back up to the top of the shore.

            People jump out of airplanes for fun.. don’t knock it til you try living a little bit.

        • Anonymous says:

          Michelle ( 2001) caused extensive damage to 7 mile beach and properties , including hotels and infrastructure . ALso along GT Harbour in many areas as well as South Church St and properties, bars and hotels of the time.
          Track was initially north-west , but recurved north and then north- east as it transiited towards Cuba. Full storm characteristics can be read on Wiki.

        • Anonymous says:

          I recall it was the storm that took out the old turtle farm a day or two after it passed. About 2000?

      • john says:

        forecast from weather service had rough seas mainly along south coast early spreading to west coast this evening.

    • Anonymous says:

      But it is getting worse for Mexico and The US Gulf Coast. 😿

  6. Anonymous says:

    Why the cone is carrot like skinny on the above photo, but more like an eggplant on NHC site?

    CNS: The above graphic is from the NHC (which is part of NOAA). I expect you are looking at the NHC wind speed graphic. This one is the warning cones.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Perhaps someone should wake up the crew at Cayman’s NWS so they can update their app which still refers to TD26.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Anyone know if my pool guy is allowed to come this week?

  9. Anonymous says:

    Anyone ever wonder why the Weather Channel never has a webcam shot of George Town or completely ignores the Cayman Islands with approaching storms like Delta? With Delta they are all over Cancun and mention Jamaica with tropical storm warnings but very little mention of Cayman? Hmmmm…….

  10. Anonymous says:

    According to NHC it will be near Grand Cayman at 2 pm.

  11. Anonymous says:

    Everyone who ran to the grocery store to stock up feels as foolish as they did buying all the TP during covid eh?

    • Anonymous says:

      As we now have a Cat 4 125 miles away, you should probably be feeling a little sheepish right now.

      • Anonymous says:

        Actually I’ve been prepared for a hurricane all season so nope, I still think you all overreact.

        • Anonymous says:

          Ah, so basically you’re saying out just bought out all the toilet paper earlier then. Gotcha Mr. Preparedness.

          Some people actually waited until there was something to be concerned about to go and top up their supplies. Sounds pretty reasonable to me.

          • Anonymous says:

            Sounds pretty dumb to me. If you don’t have at least 3 day supply of everything you need during hurricane season then you may want to visit hazard managements site to read about how to prepare.

            • Anonymous says:

              3 days supply would be abysmal if a Cat 4 visited you this afternoon.

              Not to worry though – CIG would take care of you if it did.

            • Anonymous says:

              2:20 clearly you are incapable of reading.

              They said “top up supplies” that would indicate that supplies were already purchased but given the hurricanes sporadic behavior people felt it necessary to purchase a few more items.

              Personally, I try to keep a stock of most things year round, however, I too will top up my supplies when I deem fit to do so. As for the toilet paper, we all gotta wipe our ass sometime. Worry less about what others are doing to prepared in situations like that and worry more about yourself.

  12. Anonymous says:

    I’m confused, where is this wind?

  13. Anonymous says:

    Worst scenario no work tomorrow.

  14. Karen Stephens says:

    Hi Paul Darling stay safe xxx

  15. Anonymous says:

    We blessed

  16. Anonymous says:

    6:30 am (cayman time)
    Just checked live westin webcam. All is quiet, lite breeze, chicken and a hotel staff minding their business, no waves..

  17. Anonymous says:

    Thank you for the 4am update.

  18. R Fourie says:

    Praying for all the Cayman residents that the Lord will keep them safe and protect their property.

  19. Anonymous says:

    Another excuse for the glorious civil service to close for a day or two.

  20. Anonymous says:

    UPDATE: TS Delta moves closer to Grand Cayman
    Tropical Storm Delta is continuing to strengthen over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and forecasters are projecting it to become a hurricane …

  21. Anonymous says:

    Panic over

    • Anonymous says:

      Hurricanes can turn back so save your stupid comment and we’re not out of the woods yet. You must never have experienced a hurricane before to not know how unpredictable they are. I remember Paloma wasn’t supposed to be much and it intensified rapidly like this hurricane and Ivan was supposed to be closer to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman and at the last minute it jogged to Grand Cayman.

    • Anonymous says:

      Moronic comment .. this became a cat4 hurricane within 24 hours and passed dangerously close to us.

  22. Anonymous says:

    Er, it’s not currently “heading away from Cayman”. It is currently approx. 244 miles SSE, and closest pass is projected at somewhere around 90-100 miles. It would not take much of a jog for that to vary 50 miles in either direction.
    Recon is showing TS winds in the NE quadrant extending out around 85-90 miles.
    So be responsible and report properly.

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