Rebecca reports that there are many requests down there for information on the Caymans since lot of residents have family there.

CALL FOR ASSISTANCE:

Can you please search the web/news and post what you find on the Cayman situation here.

Also, if you're in contact with people in TB, tell them what you read here about Cayman.

Here's an excerpt from an AP article I found on the web . . .

On the Cayman Islands, up to half of Grand Cayman’s 15,000 homes appeared to be uninhabitable in the short term, leaving thousands homeless, said Pilar Bush, the territory’s tourism director.

Yachts were tossed ashore, century-old trees were snapped or uprooted and well-built homes reduced to splintered wood across Grand Cayman, a banking center and popular scuba diving destination.

Widespread destruction was visible from an airplane chartered by The Associated Press that flew over the island Monday, a day after Ivan struck. On the island’s Seven Mile Beach, one hotel was partially smashed, with rooms gaping open to the sea, and others had no roofs.

Sailors from the British navy frigate HMS Richmond came ashore on smaller boats Tuesday to see how they could help, officials said.

Here's another one from Monday (Yahoo News) . . .

Cayman Islands Update as of 2pm EDT Monday 9/13
Monday September 13, 2:57 pm ET


NEW YORK, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Government of the Cayman Islands has reported that, at this moment in time, Hurricane Ivan has caused no reported casualties in the Cayman Islands.
There has been extensive water damage to a number of buildings, but the vast majority remain structurally sound. The country's housing stock has also been impaired. The electricity supply, which was turned off before the hurricane hit, has been affected, and the electricity company is working to re-establish the lines and pylons. Mobile phones are now being reconnected.

The Cayman Islands Government (CIG) is focusing on four priority areas:

1. Securing the storm shelters -- ensuring people are safe, warm and have
food.
2. Clearing the roads of debris and restoring essential services.
3. Working with HMS Richmond and the Auxiliary Ship Wave Runner. Both
ships are currently offshore, and the Captain of HMS Richmond is
preparing the ship's helicopter to undertake a test flight. If the
test flight is successful aerial surveillance will begin, allowing an
effective assessment of priorities.
4. Ensuring safety and security. The police will be assisted by
personnel of HMS Richmond.


The supermarkets have supplies that have not been spoiled by rain or flood water, and will reopen as soon as possible. The CIG is working to reopen the banks and to ensure the economy begins to function as normal as soon as possible.

The absolute priority of the Cayman Islands Government is to ensure the Islands get back on their feet. The Cabinet Secretary, Orrett Connor, said at 19:00 GMT: "The Cayman Islands has picked itself up from hurricanes in the past. There is a tremendous team spirit here, and we are working together to rebuild and regroup. We are absolutely determined to be back in business extremely quickly."

The Government is working to ensure continuity in the Islands' financial services industry and will aim for the tourism sector to be back in business as soon as possible.

The airport is back in restricted use, with a Cayman Airways plane flying in from Miami this afternoon. The Air Traffic Control tower is operational. There is no further update, at the moment, about the resumption of commercial flights.

As soon as more information becomes available, the DOT New York office will be disseminating this. Please DO NOT overload the already stretched resources of the Government and emergency personnel by trying to call the Islands directly for an update.

Thanks, Shaggy.

If possible, when you ost info from the web could you also put the link as well?

No problem. Here's the link to the second article:

http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/September2004/13/c9302.html

Can't seem to locate the first one again. Sorry.

Ric

Hi
This story is from the BBC as of 18.00 uk about the clean up in Cayman.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3660028.stm
The flood waters are receding and roads being cleared.
Unconfirmed reports of looting and disorder, despite an overnight curfew.
The authorites say that there are no reports of deaths so far,but that many people 'remain unnaccounted for'.
Winds of over 150mph pounded the island,demolishing buildings including official shelters.
The centre of the storm passed within 30 miles of Grand Cayman.
Two British naval vessels are providing supplies and assisting relief efforts and will remain there until Friday.
You can now drive from West Bay into Georgetown.
Power is expected in Georgetown by the end of the week.
Waves as high as 20ft crashed into the sea wall at the port in Georgetown and floodwaters swept away trucks,cars and boats.
Up to half of the 15,000 homes on Cayman were badly damaged and uninhabitable..
95% had suffered damage to roofs.
Many people are being moved from their damaged homes into shelters.
The airport has been opened for emergency flights but others are being turned away.
Hope this helps...will keep looking for more info.

I also found a link on Cayman Net News http://caymannetnews.com/2004/09/738/reports/shtml which has some damage reports given by readers who have managed to contact residents mostly by text messaging.
The site does stress that these are all unofficial and unconfirmed.
The site was accessed 500,000 times on Monday alone and the site has been a little slow.

I recieved this message from a friend in Nevada. He has contact with Caymens so perhaps specific family names could be relayed and I could ask.
"My friend from the Caymans called me yesterday. I had a long talk with him. We think causalities were little or none, but he estimates that 1/3 of the island is homeless. Many places that used to have houses on beach, are now part of the ocean. There is not even land left to rebuild the houses on. The "bodies" that people saw floating were possibly from the graveyards that were totally washed away. He spoke a lot about he and 10 other people crowded in his upstairs loft (About 8 X 8 area) while the water washed away his furniture and appliances downstairs. The complex that was a 100 yards away from him is the one that was turned into a woodpile. He had a stockpile of food in his refrigerator, but it washed away. All in all it is tough, but it could have been much worse..."

Here is another link with good info on Cayens.http://stormcarib.com/reports/2004/cayman.shtml

Cayman photos here:
http://www.davidolson.com/Cayman/nfpicturepro/index.php?cat=0