Living in Grand Cayman

Its raining profusely and the wind has picked up a lot.  I just did a quick reconnaissance around the house and was totally soaked after less than 5 minutes.

Lots of people on the road and once again, just like before Gustav, we saw a few car accidents.  People are nerveous and have lots on their minds, so car accidents seem to happen a lot pre-hurricane.

The bad news is that the system has sped up and that now we are expecting tropical storm winds around noon on friday, so any remaining tasks need to be done friday at the crack of dawn.

Below, the different computer models published by various weather services seem to have a consensus that its headed for us!  It sucks … but we are ready!

Going to try to get some sleep now … updates in the morning and as long as we have power, ill be updating my blog often.

Its official.  Paloma is now a hurricane category 1! Damn … 🙁

Julie & I have indeed “rushed to completion” our preparations.  Only a few things remain to do tomorrow morning.

Here it is … could pass directly on Grand Cayman.  Not good.

Stay tuned for more updates soon. Its raining on and off here.  Some wind, but not all that much.  The rain comes down very hard for a few seconds here & there.

Its not yet a hurricane, but it is a forgone conclusion that it will be very soon.

A Hurricane warning is now in effect.  This means that (as per the Miami Hurricane Center) ” … HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION.” A curfew will most probably be imposed tomorrow afternoon or evening.

That “rushed to completion” expression spooks me every time.

Here is Paloma.

Almost all companies & schools have announced that they are closed tomorrow.  While driving back home from work the groceries were packed with people and there were lineups at gas stations.  Really glad we did that last night.

Now i have to pick up all our stuff outside such as the BBQ and make sure that we are ready by noon tomorrow.

More posts to come.

That was fast … from a possible storm to a Hurricane watch.  All expectations now are that a hurricane warning will be issued this evening and that the Cayman Islands will be affected (to what degree we do not know yet) late Friday night and all day Saturday.

Paloma is now the talk of the town and productivity in office buildings across the island is nearing 0%!

We finally talked to our guests who are supposed to arrive Saturday PM.  Right now its wait & see, although chances are their flight will be cancelled if the storm is anywhere near us.

To receive an email an email notification each time I post an update here, please click on “register” on the right side menu.

That storm is now called Tropical Storm Paloma … Dove in Spanish!  Not sure that’s a great name for a hurricane, but who am I to complain?

It is now expected the the Cayman Islands will be under tropical storm watch sometime today and with the projected path, Paloma would affect (at its peak) late Saturday. Paloma is still expected to become a hurricane before passing us.  This sucks. 🙁  I was 100% convinced that the season was over for this year.

Went to fill up gas and got some supplies last night.  Most people were not even aware yet that a storm was brewing ; they probably will be today.