Little Cayman in good shape

(CNS): Although Little Cayman has lost most of its light poles and power is out across the island the smallest of the Cayman Islands stood up well to the passing of Hurricane Paloma on Saturday and one resort manager there told CNS that once power is restored the island should be able to start taking tourists in time for Thanksgiving.

Jason Bellport the Resort Manager at the Little Cayman Beach Resort said the island had largely withstood Paloma’s onslaught with all the resorts virtually operational and all boats and docks in tact.  “Once we get power we can start taking tourists and keeping the Sister Islands tourist brand going,” he said. “We aiming for thanks giving to get back on track so we are really pushing to get power restored.”

Bellport explained that some private homes had sustained some damage that poles and trees were down but the roads were almost clear and the island was navigable already. “Aside from the North East corner you can almost go round the whole island but we can pretty much get where we need to go,” he added.

Bellport who was speaking to CNS from the Brac which he said was in far worse shape said that he was loading generators to take over to Little Cayman and some supplies to ensure shops and services could function and help get the island back to a standard to receive guests as soon as possible.

Earlier reports have confirmed that the runway on Little Cayman is fine and now the flood waters have subsided the island appears to have faired very well.

Little Cayman is about 87 miles northeast of Grand Cayman and five miles west of the Brac and is the smallest of the islands at less than ten square miles in area and most of it is at sea level. It has a fluctuating permanent population of around 200 people, however, it is a very popular destination for divers and the economy depends entirely on tourism and it is an important element in the Cayman Islands overall tourism product. The most famous dive site area, Bloody Bay is consistently ranked as one of the world’s top wall dives.

The Little Cayman is also home to the Little Cayman Research Centre part of the Central Caribbean Marine Institute which has according to reports on the website suffered some damage.