Paloma info and updates — Grand Cayman
(CNS): 11:30 UPDATE Sunday. CUC has restored power island wide on Grand Cayman and CAL has resumed operations including normal services on CAL Express to and from the Sister Islands. The University College of the Cayman Islands says the main campus will open on Tuesday, 11 November but the Brac campus will be closed until further notice. Grand Cayman has escaped the brunt of the storm while Cayman Brac and Little Cayman have been devastated by the hurricane’s impact.
CUC: All power has now been restored island wide. Crews were working throughout the day to repair damage to the transmission and distribution system. CUC estimated that it was able to maintain power to over 60% of the island throughout the storm. CUC President and CEO, Richard Hew said the firm was pleased that it was able to provide service to most of the island throughout the storm. “While the specific damage from a hurricane is largely unpredictable, our preparation and response plans have been effective in minimizing outages,” he added, “While we wish we could keep all power on throughout this type of event, high winds and heavy rain make safe response by line crews impossible. CUC is proud of it’s capable employees, over 90% of whom are Caymanian. Our long service employee base and training programs have produced a very capable human resource which is integral to our reliability.”
If you continue to experience outages in any area please call CUC’s outage hotline at 945-1282. If you encounter downed lines, please contact 911 for emergency response.
UCCI: The University College of the Cayman Islands says the UCCI’S Main Campus will open as previously announced on Tuesday, November 11th 2008. The Cayman Brac Campus will be closed until further notice. Cayman Brac students are welcome to attend classes on the Grand Cayman campus if they are able.
CAL: Power has been restored to Owen Roberts International Airport and Cayman Airways has now resumed operations. The CAL Cargo Department will be open to accept cargo to Cayman Brac at 12:30PM today. CAL has also resumed normal Sister Islands service on CAL Express. Passengers are asked to ensure that all travel documents are in order, which include: visas, re-entry stamps and all other immigration requirements. All passengers are asked to keep checking the airline’s website www.caymanairways.com or call the reservations lines on 949-2311. Reservations will be open today from 12pm until 8pm, and City Ticket Office from 12pm until 7pm to answer queries and assist with re-accommodating affected passengers.
Communications: Digicel and Cable & Wireless mobile networks remain active on all three islands. LIME (as C&W is now known) said that while core telecommunications systems remained operational throughout the storm a small number of services were affected due to the loss of commercial power. These services are coming back on line as commercial power is being restored. A full assessment of damage to services in the Sister Islands will be determined when the All Clear has been issued although mobile service is operational in both islands. Landline customers in areas affected by power outages are advised to use a phone that does not plug into an electrical outlet. Broadband customers can connect to the internet by powering up their ADSL modem using a UPS or generator supply. Residents are asked to not touch nor cut downed telephone cables but to report any such cables or other faults to 611. Prepaid customers of our Gimme 5 can text to short code 126 to receive $5.00 credit. LIME corporate offices and its Anderson Square and Galleria stores will reopen as normal on Tuesday 11 November. The Brac corporate office and retail store reopening will be advised at a later date.
Shelters on Grand Cayman have now close including the Bodden Town Civic Centre which had opened as a refuge for those whose homes have been flooded.
Grand Cayman appears to have experienced minimal damage but residents should be careful when entering flooded buildings. Residents are also reminded that any sand washed onto the roads should not be removed for personal use, because it will need to be returned to the beaches.
RCIPS officers are on patrol on Grand Cayman and criminality will be dealt with robustly.
Category: Local News
I have 2 friends staying at the Brac Reef Resort, from Arizona. would ppareciate any news of the ri welfare,along with their group.
CNS: Everyone was OK and I believe all tourists at the Brac Reef have now left the island to head home.
God bless all of my family and friends on Cayman Brac! It’s so difficult to sit here with food, water and electricity knowing that almost all of you will go without out one or all of these necessities tonight and in the days to come. I pray that help will come soon and I thank God that everyone, to the best of my limited knowledge, is still alive and well. We can replace material things, but we can’t replace lives, so THANK GOD that everyone’s life was spared despite the devastating damage that we are hearing about over here on Grand Cayman. You all are in our prayers tonight…GOD BLESS YOU ALL tonight and as hopeless as it seems right now for some…it will get better and help will come….don’t despair..everything will be ok again very soon.
We have two friends on cayman brac. they stayed on the second floor of brac reef. Hope everything is ok!
My mother is the assistant manager at the Brac Reef. She says that the resort has been severly damaged with most buildings either gone or heavily damaged. However, everyone is accounted for and there appears to be no major injuries at the resort. She said out of 40 guests, 30 stayed at the hotel and 10 were in the West End shelter. This was as of 10:30AM EST.