traveller Posted September 23, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 827 Topics Per Day: 0.10 Content Count: 12,101 Content Per Day: 1.50 Reputation: 249 Days Won: 3 Joined: 04/01/2002 Status: Offline Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 Latest news? IR got a generator and is online for a few minutes! Thank you Jesus!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebula Posted September 23, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 10 Topic Count: 5,823 Topics Per Day: 0.75 Content Count: 45,870 Content Per Day: 5.94 Reputation: 1,897 Days Won: 83 Joined: 03/22/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/19/1970 Share Posted September 23, 2004 CNN article on Caymans ----------------------------------------- Caymans slowly recovers from Ivan By Alexandra Mackworth-Gee for CNN Thursday, September 23, 2004 Posted: 7:03 AM EDT (1103 GMT) (CNN) -- A week after Hurricane Ivan ripped through the Cayman Islands, residents are still trying to come to grips with the devastation left in its wake. About one in five houses were destroyed beyond repair and a quarter of buildings that remain are uninhabitable. Hundreds of people are still living in shelters while they attempt to repair their homes. Steve John, a Cayman Islands government spokesman based in London, said the capital George Town now has limited power and Internet access is also available again. Electricity pylons are still strewn across the landscape and access to water is limited. Two-thirds of the island's water comes from reservoirs while the rest is from a desalination plant. The reservoirs are completely shut due to contamination by seawater and sewage. Living conditions are starting to improve, although most roads on the eastern side of the island are impassable because of debris. Esso has now opened three petrol stations on the island limiting customers to CI$20.00 (US$25.00) of petrol on each visit. Although the Red Cross is providing emergency food packages, water purification tablets and plastic sheeting, many residents have taken it upon themselves to supply the island with vital resources -- such as generators, plywood, chainsaws and canned food. The Florida Cruise Ship Association provided a cruise ship on Tuesday loaded with relief supplies. Residents estimate it could take up to a year for the island to recover. Nevertheless, John Hurlstone of Hurlstone Construction Group based in George Town said: "By Christmas, we hope to have the tourist area, the West End strip, fully functioning. The Holiday Inn is already open and the new Hyatt hotel hopes to open in November." Tourists and residents are still struggling to leave the island as Cayman Airways runs an emergency evacuation service on a first come, first served basis. South African Airways chartered a plane of South African citizens out of the island. Air Canada and Air Jamaica did the same thing for residents of those countries. A British expatriate, Samuel Howard, living in West Bay, Grand Cayman, said British Airways were not evacuating citizens from the island. Cayman Airways flights are departing to Miami, Jamaica, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. However, this has led to extensive crowding at the airport. Many residents are escaping to Cayman Brac, which suffered minimal damage from Ivan and has running water and electricity. Despite the damage and confusion, there have been few incidences of looting. "The police have the situation under control," Hurlstone said. "There is a great spirit of camaraderie here with residents working together with the authorities to try and help." Volunteers are being sworn in as special constables to help patrol the island. Although the government has declared a state of emergency, there is a feeling among residents and tourists that the government is actively trying to play down the crisis for fear of undermining the huge offshore banking industry and destroying the tourism industry. "It should not be covered up," former government minister Charles Kirkonnell said. "We have a disaster, we have a catastrophe on our hands. It needs to be met. We need to be truthful about the whole thing." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yukon Posted September 25, 2004 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 27 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 658 Content Per Day: 0.09 Reputation: 6 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/20/2004 Status: Offline Birthday: 10/01/1965 Share Posted September 25, 2004 IR, a generator is a good thing to have. Sorry to hear about rath of Ivan on your Island. I just got back from being out to sea for last three weeks. Hope all is well with you and the ppl you are serving in the Cayman Islands. I pray for you and your ppl on the Island daily. Yukon :hug: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IslandRose Posted October 1, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 476 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 5,266 Content Per Day: 0.68 Reputation: 63 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/22/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 03/21/1954 Share Posted October 1, 2004 How did I miss this thread???????? Trav you are so amazing! Love you , Sis. I am starting to upload some photos to my PhotoBucket account. I have only put a few so far, I will add more tonight when we get the generator going, but if you want to see a bit of what Ivan left us, you can check it out here.... IslandRose/ Ivan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebula Posted October 1, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 10 Topic Count: 5,823 Topics Per Day: 0.75 Content Count: 45,870 Content Per Day: 5.94 Reputation: 1,897 Days Won: 83 Joined: 03/22/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/19/1970 Share Posted October 1, 2004 Wow! Unbelievable! Praise God you made it through all that! Hey, IR - we've missed you around here! :hug: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catsmeow Posted October 1, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 439 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 7,315 Content Per Day: 0.93 Reputation: 356 Days Won: 0 Joined: 11/21/2002 Status: Offline Share Posted October 1, 2004 IR: Looks like Florida. I can't tell the difference. Except in the more populated areas with all the food places and stores, it's a bunch of fallen signs and tons of debris scattered everywhere. We don't look like a warzone now but there's still lots of debris piled up and all kinds of uprooted trees and concrete block laying around. Not a pretty site and not something a tourist would enjoy seeing here. This will really cut into our state's economy, I'm sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yukon Posted October 1, 2004 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 27 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 658 Content Per Day: 0.09 Reputation: 6 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/20/2004 Status: Offline Birthday: 10/01/1965 Share Posted October 1, 2004 IR, wow the pictures. I'm glad Jesus gave you indoor plumbing again!! I am still praying!! Yukon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller Posted October 23, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 827 Topics Per Day: 0.10 Content Count: 12,101 Content Per Day: 1.50 Reputation: 249 Days Won: 3 Joined: 04/01/2002 Status: Offline Author Share Posted October 23, 2004 IslandRose - can we have an update of your life on an island? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IslandRose Posted October 23, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 476 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 5,266 Content Per Day: 0.68 Reputation: 63 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/22/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 03/21/1954 Share Posted October 23, 2004 You read my mind. I was thinking today that I should post an update and prayer request. Please continue to pray for us here on Grand Cayman. It has been five and a half weeks since Hurricane Ivan hit Grand Cayman. We endured 36 hours of some of the scariest weather ever seen. The hurricane force winds lasted about 14 hours. The local weatherman, who attends our church, told us that we had sustained winds of 169 mph and gusts of 210 mph. Remember, folks, this is an island of 76 square miles. It is 25 miles long and at the WIDEST place it is 8 miles wide. In most area's it is more like 2 or 3 miles wide. It was total devastation. Skip forward to today. sigh There has been a lot of clean up going on. George Town has power. Most of the island has running water now, though it will be months before East End has water because the pipes were washed out along with the roads and many of the businesses and people's houses. I wish I could tell you that things are getting back to normal. I cannot. Thousands of people are living in houses that have tarps instead of roofs. Some are living in houses without even tarps. Why? because there is no other place to live. Whole apartment complexes are washed away or completely shelled out by the sea. Only one grocery store was not affected. Now we have 3 stores opened, but one of them is just operating out of their old warehouse. All the home improvement stores were either flooded by the sea or lost their roofs....so it has taken this long to start being able to get supplies except for those who make the trip to the states or had somebody there send them supplies. All along the road are piles of debris. Folks, I'm talking 2 stories high, and I'm not talking trees and shingles. This is piles of houses and apartments, peoples lives, push up on hte side of the road so we can get past. It is heart rending. Yesterday there was a young couple, she was pregnant, poking through one of the piles from Mariners Cove. A complex about a mile and a half from my house that was washed off it's foundations and across the main road. I felt like crying as I passed. And that is another thing. The emotions. Everyone's emotions are very close to the surface right now. Tempers flare easily, and it is easy to cry. I know that the people in Florida suffered from the hurricanes. I do not discount their suffering. But you have to also realize that where they can get into the car and drive, even if it is 50 miles, and get away from it for a while. Not here. The devastation is EVERYWHERE. When I walk out my fromt door, I can count 9 or 10 houses that I can see from my driveway that lost roofs and had their ceilings drop. The only way to get away from it is to get into a plane and fly away. (My husband and I did for a week.) But then you return, and it is still there. So please continue to pray. Lord willing, I may have power by next week. We are still running a generator at night. It does put a chill on the fridge and give us fans to sleep by, so we are thankful for it. (It also allows me to get online for a few hours... ) A church has given us a large supply of flashlights and D batteries. When they arrive next week, we are going to go down to East End, the hardest hit area, and give them out with tracts and as much encouragement as we can. Love you guys! IR :il: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catsmeow Posted October 23, 2004 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 439 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 7,315 Content Per Day: 0.93 Reputation: 356 Days Won: 0 Joined: 11/21/2002 Status: Offline Share Posted October 23, 2004 I wish I could tell you that things are getting back to normal. I cannot. Thousands of people are living in houses that have tarps instead of roofs. Some are living in houses without even tarps. Um, yeah....sounds like here too. Tarps...tarps, everywhere. Seems like everybody's roof is blue. Ours isn't but a huge number of them are real blue......and everywhere you look, the trees are tilted like the leaning tower of Pisa or totally uprooted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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