Living through Ivan, remembering the storm

(CNS): As Hurricane Helene, which passed the Cayman Islands as a tropical storm, slams Florida with Category 4 winds and up to 20-foot storm surge, we can reflect on how we have once again dodged a major bullet. We weren’t always so lucky. In September 2004, Grand Cayman was hit by Hurricane Ivan, and four years later, in November 2008, Hurricane Paloma swept over the Sister Islands. 

But many people living in the Cayman Islands today have not experienced a major storm and may not be prepared.

In an exclusive interview with CNS, retired DoE chief enforcement officer Ladner Watler recalls how he and his family survived Ivan and the sudden rising water. Eight adults, one of them pregnant, and two children managed to escape the storm surge in a boat that was in his carport.

With two more months of the current Atlantic hurricane season to go, Watler is urging people to take storms seriously and get to higher ground if a major storm is on its way here. He also believes that anyone living here should learn to swim because it might just save their life.