Oy! It's 2:36 a.m. and my dad managed to call me via his cell phone. Land lines are down and are being re-established at a very slow pace as you can imagine.
The once beautiful and serene enchanted island of Grand Cayman was devastated by Hurricane Ivan (The Terrible). Despite this the natives have banded together along with aid volunteers from the U.K.
Clean up efforts are well underway. Fresh water has been restored to the capitol city of Georgetown. Cayman Cable and Wireless is working to provide power supply to banks and large businesses via portable generators.
My father reports that Her Royal Majesty The Queen of England has sent 2 warships to dock at the port of Georgetowne. Their mission is to provide food and needed supplies to the citizenry. Armed guards are also stationed at Merrin's and Foster's grocery stores to ensure no looting or other nefarious acts transpire.
I told my dad once again The Brits are on top of their game.
Dad reported that 3 small patches atop our roof were damaged. The neighbor whose property lot aligns with the back yard lost all his lumber. Dad found it yesterday morning in the front yard. Dad said the sheer imagery of winds flinging all this lumber over the house made him laugh. He spent the better part of yesterday walking to the back yard to hand the lumber over the shrubs to his neighbor. Gives whole new meaning to love thy neighbor eh?
As dad walked his property he spotted numerous roof tiles of assorted types and colors. He said he realized that the wind picked up whatever and deposited it all in his front yard. He decided his first mission would be to check on his neighbors on his street then begin returning the deposited items to their rightful owners.
He spent yesterday morning attending an informational meeting at work, and then other remainder of the day picking up said roof tiles, lumber and other personal effects then returning them to their proper owners. He said it's been years since he's seen some of the other island residents. Hell of a way to catch up. I'll say.
Why bother to walk about and return items? That's easy, aside from the fact that it's simply the right thing to do, materials are quite costly and on the island typically all items are imported. Believe you me, every bit of frugality helps.
Dad said that as he walked into town he saw cars strewn every which way, as if a giant were in town playing with the cars as if they were toys, then left abrupty without cleaning up his proverbial play room. He said it was weird to see cars upside down and others on their sides, most of windows in the cars were blown completely out.
He also spotted a few condos which had been completely leveled. One entire building was relocated across the street, at what was to be the future location of Ritz Carlton's luxury hotel en residence.
On the family front, my step-mother's entire roof collapsed. Her firm relocated her to the U.K. while there she stopped in to check on my brother and his fiancee'. She says it's bloody cold in England right about now and she can't wait to return home to try to salvage what she can.
My step-grandma's entire home was flooded through and through. She was flown away from the island to a Miami hospital. She requires kidney dialysis treatments to stay alive. Family members who remained on the island opened the front and back doors of her house to give the "sea" (native speak for The Ocean) free passage, to enter and exit at will. Dad said that at one point there was more than 8 feet of water inside her home, there was nothing anyone could do except evacuate the premises and wait Ivan out.
In town, containers which are used to transport imported wares from all over the world were found hastily blown and thrown (some as far as 2 blocks away), from their usual storage space in dry dock, at port, aboard ships.
Naturally the damage appears worse in downtown Georgetown. I think this is because of the lowered sea level (as this is a port city), additionally because the buildings in town are nestled close together (think of New York City where space is at a premium and many buildings host more than one type of business in them, and you've got the general idea of what I'm trying to describe).
Dad's recollections on Ivan...One of the most suprising things was the absence of shattered or broken glass and palm trees. Ivan chose to take all the blown out glass. He uprooted entire mature palm trees, leaving behind HUGE holes in the ground where sea water is springing up.
The howl of the wind and the splattering sound of water, water, everywhere. Dad said he will never forget those sounds as long as he lives.
He also said the center of eye of the storm passed and all was quiet, the sun was blinding. This scared him to no end. He wanted the storm to come and go quickly, Ivan however had other plans.
The front of the storm moved rapidly. The eye was a calm, quiet and sunny contrast. The middle and widened tail end of the storm allowed for a change of wind direction which produced violent wind shears, forcing passionately charged seas to run roughshod over the island itself.
Now that the storm has passed, geologists and other scientists are on hand to study the effects/affects of Ivan on the island's 2 fault lines. Dad and I jokingly refer to them as "San" and "Andreas".
It was of great comfort to hear that many neighbors are helping each other clean up their yards and salvage whatever they have left that is deemed useful. The government in jolly old England was swift to react sending supplies, as well as U.K. citizens to reinforce infrastructure and provide expertise in putting the island back together.
Despite waiting in lines for HOURS to get groceries my dad's firm provided their employees, $1,000 to cover foor and other expenses. The storm rendered ATMs useless and all banking institutions were forced to close. While other employees wished to move off the island permanently, they were offered relocation choices in Switzerland, Houston or Miami. Dad refused the firm's generous offer opting instead to stay put. Further his firm is arranging for roof and storm damage related repairs to their employee's domiciles. How generous is that? I told my dad his company has their act together and in putting so much emphasis on getting every one of their staff members settled and comfortable they KNOW they can get back to the business at hand, and when they begin serving their clients they can count on every associate being 100% committed and focused.
While dad told me about how great his firm was with respect to handling the after math of the storm, I paused to chuckle and recall last year when Isabel walloped Maryland and the remainder of the upper North east coast. The best laid disastery recovery plans were dashed all but to Hades. My firm forced me to work the entire week and at one point they considered locking all essential personnel inside the building for the entire week. You know that at the time I was designated as "essential" right?!
Once the idea was bandied about, they decided against locking us inside the Technical Center. However never once did my firm talk about providing food for essential personnel staff. What they did suggest was that we stay at the Hilton hotel just down the street from our office building. The catch, ah you knew there was one... we would have to bunk 2 to a room. My room mate was going to be a married man! There was NO way in the known universe that I was agreeing to that arrangement. For some strange reason mgt couldn't get why I objected so staunchly to this idea.
Go figure...
When I compare the ignorant and inappropriate pittance which was offered/suggested and provided to myself and my colleagues last year during Maryland's brush with Isabel, as compared to what is being given and lent on this tiny island where they are often thought to be backward-minded and generally behind the social times I am at a complete loss.
The long and short of it is that I am ever so thankful and grateful that my family is safe and sound, they are in good spirits and have help and resources working to restore some semblance of their lives.
The spirit and will to survive and bask in the sunshine one more day lives on.
I give thanks to God for the safety of my family, and even greater I give God thanks that there were no deaths on the island at the hand of Ivan the Terrible.
Amen
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Special Heartfelt Thank Yous to those of you who reached out to me via email, notes, and telephone to check on me throughout this ordeal. I love and appreciate you. Thanks again for comforting me & making me laugh when I absolutely needed it most.
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