Sister Islands suffer worst of Ida’s weather

| 27/08/2021 | 16 Comments
Cayman News Service
Charles Kirkconnell International Airport as TS Ida approached the Sister Islands

(CNS): The unpredictable path of Tropical Storm Ida brought the system closest to Grand Cayman early this morning but because of the shape of the storm, the Sister Islands suffered the worst of the weather. The all clear for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman takes effect at 11am this morning, five hours after Grand Cayman. According to officials, the Sister Islands experienced strong winds, heavy rain and significant power outages over the last 12 hours as Ida passed through the area.

Flood and marine warnings remain in effect for the Cayman Islands as there is the potential for up to ten inches of rainfall over the next few days and high seas. Roads across all three islands remain wet and drivers are urged to take care.       

Grand Cayman is getting back to normal, with public services, clinics, offices, banks and supermarkets all expected to reopen by midday. However, schools remain closed until Monday and the District Administration Building on Cayman Brac will also remain closed, with only essential workers reporting for duty.

As Cayman continues the clean-up operation after Tropical Storm Grace last week, there was a sigh of relief across Grand Cayman that Ida’s passage was uneventful here, though the storm is now strengthening as it heads north west towards Cuba.

Cayman News Service
095Tpr Navarro-Tatum, CIFS Divisional Manager Whitney Tatum, RCIPS PS Ashton Ferguson and 106Tpr Shepherd (click to enlarge)

Although the storm passed within 50 miles northwest of Grand Cayman and around 100 miles of Cayman Brac, the strongest winds and rains were in the northeast corner, which is why the Sister Islands were more impacted. But despite its erratic and relatively slow path, Ida did not intensify until it had passed our area.

The Cayman Islands Regiment’s Sister Islands team is carrying out joint patrols with the RCIPS in Cayman Brac this morning to ensure that everyone is safe. Speaking on Radio Cayman Friday, District Commissioner Mark Tibbetts said that there had been no major problems related to the storm and despite experiencing heavy winds and a lot of rain, the island fared well.

Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, chair of the National Emergency Operations Centre, said the damage assessment was already completed in Little Cayman and underway in Cayman Brac.

“The police helicopter will be doing aerial reconnaissance there shortly. The Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTS) will be doing wellness checks on vulnerable persons. In addition power has been restored to most of the island,” he said. “We will continue to closely monitor their situation over the next few hours and are committed to providing them with whatever support they may need.”   


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Category: Science & Nature, Weather

Comments (16)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Shape of the storm????

  2. Pecos Bill says:

    When does the next hurricane hit Texas?

  3. Jess Blowin says:

    The wind is generally the big thing with nearly all types of summer storms………….except lightning, and it might have an effect on that.

  4. I still have two books about Hurricane Ivan: “Survival Stories”, and ” Spirit of Cayman – The Aftermath of Ivan”. I still remember the huge graveyard of dead cars. Looking at the pictures, it was a bad Hurricane.

  5. Anonymous says:

    We Bluff peopke can take it

  6. Guido Marsupio says:

    So what you are saying is that decades of hurricanes have not taught, and generations of Caymanians have not learned, anything about how to prepare for this annual display of nature? That Grace was our first exposure? That Caymanians’ memories, year to year, do not exist? Shame on your immortal soul….

    • Hubert says:

      Guido,

      The real big one is coming next month. We better learn fast. The water temperatures in the Atlantic are at all time record highs for the month of August.

      Another Hurricane Ivan is coming. Get ready people.

      Amazed how people forget 2004 so fast.

    • Anonymous says:

      When it comes to these cns comments I can’t tell when people are trolling or are just plain stupid.

      • D. Truth says:

        I’m a little bit of both. but I try to write something interesting.

      • Island Lady says:

        I’m stupid ! What bothers me the most is the difference between plain stupid and very stupid…… or super stupid . What makes it bad is that most people don’t even know they have a problem.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Grace was a tough lesson for Grand Cayman, Ida a chance to practice what we learned.
    Next storm we will be even better prepared. Hope the Sister Islands didn’t take too much damage,

    Cyclones are unpredictable, even more so now with climate change. We got lucky even as we see Ida intensifying right now, and huge storm surges and hurricane winds to people in its path these next few days.

    More waves are brewing more storms for the weeks ahead.
    Going to be a long storm season.

    • The Storms says:

      Long storm season? Maybe so, maybe not………

    • Anonymous says:

      Do the waves brew the storms? I thought the storm brewed the waves. Now you got me all confused!

      • D. Oracle says:

        Just for you, 7:57 am : The winds are the main contributor of both.

      • Anonymous says:

        Tropical wave, i.e., early weather system, which can grow into tropical depressions, which then turn into tropical storms, which strengthen into hurricanes which evolve from Cat 1 to Cat 5.

        If you check some weather sites they highlight/track tropical waves coming off of Africa, across the Atlantic, and through the Caribbean. Strengthening from wave to storm can happen anywhere along that path, depending on weather conditions.

        But leave that to the weather geeks. (Or start with https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/) Just follow mainstream media and you’ll hear about the storms when they start to form, i.e., with a day or two to prepare (depending on location of formation, etc.). Which is enough time – if you’ve got your season preparations and plans in place. Which we all should by now. (Though I do need to restock a few items after the last two weekends. 🙂

        Stay Prepared

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