What a difference 8h can make!  Forecasts now predict that the storm will pass under (south) of Jamaica and then make a “bee line” to Grand Cayman.

This storm is officially, in my book, “The rollercoaster” : faster, slower, stalled, north, south, Cayman, No-Cayman … it just keeps changing and keeps us all guessing and messing with the minds of all the meteorologists out there.

Here you can see that compared to my previous updates, it has turned south to pass under Jamaica.  After that, who knows!

The flying turtles (AKA Cayman Airways) have started their hurricane schedule.  While driving to work (I drive by the airport) I saw at 6:30am their last old Boeing 737-200 roar to go pick up people in Cayman Brac.  Usually the first flight to leave the airport is around 7:15 or so. Also, lots more people on the road at such an early time.  Probably people that want to leave work early or after lunch to finish preparing for Gustav.

A few cars has also started showing up in some of the roundabouts. The roundabout centers are elevated, so are a good place to put a car since they will be less likely to get flooded than at street level.  The best spots go first, so people are putting the second car (or the likes) there a day or to early.  During Ivan in 2004, hundreds of people lost their cars, so people take this very seriously.