Living in Grand Cayman

Judging from all the emails and messages, it appears that many people are reading my blog.  Thanks for all of your messages and support.  The forecasts still say that Dean will pass south of the island.  The more south the better … lets hope it keeps going that way.  We should know more this evening.

Julie and I are now in my office and have all the we need to ride out the storm.  The house is as secure as can be ; everything is high up, electricity is off, water if off, etc.

 Below are some picutures of our neighborhood just before we left for the office.  We will try to post another update tonight when the rain starts but of course before the power goes out.

Here our neighbors house with the shutters.

Here is our other neighbors house. I am there talking on my Blackberry while they are installing a massive paneling on the garage door.   Not a very good helper am I? 🙂

Here is another house with more traditional wooden hurricane shutters.

Our house in the distance!  Lets hope its like that when we go back.

Here is a roundabout in South Sound.  As you can see the ground is higher, so people have parked their cars there in case of flooding.  It is obvious that people are taking Dean seriously.

Its sunday morning and still beautiful outside ; so strange to know that in less than 24h some massive system will roll thru here. Julie and I are now full prepared; the house is secure (see below) and only have a few odd things to do.  All our important stuff is now in my office. Other items such as our TV are high up and covered with plastic tarps.  We will also go to a neighbors place this morning to help them uninstall their large satellite dish.  Aipa, our dog, spent the night with some friends and will stay there for the hurricane ; my office permits pets but only if they are in a cage at all times.  Aipa hates here cage, so it seemed cruel to leave here in there for maybe up to 48 hours.  She is staying with a co-worker of mine who’s house did very well in the Category-5 hurricane Ivan in 2004.  Bijou, our bird, wil be coming with us since here is quite used to being in his cage 🙂

 Around noon we shall go to my office since they are expecting rain to start later today and a curfew has been imposed as of tonight. I will try to make a final update tonight before they cut off the power; they will cut it as soon as there are hurricane force winds.

Here is a picture of the windows boarded up.

The TV and other items under the tarp in case water comes in via the roof (or lack of …)

 Here is the latest forcasted path.  The multple lines are various organisations who make computer models.  They seem to all agree that the storm is moving south, a bit away from Cayman.  It is still a very dangerous storm though and we are expecting a rough ride.  We need it to go much more south than this for it to make a significant difference. Its would now pass 60 or so miles south of Grand Cayman.  At 150 miles away, I am told it would make a huge difference … lets wait and see. 

It now looks almost certain that Hurricane Dean will make a direct (or almost direct) hit on the Cayman Islands.  Julie & I have done all that we could ; all our important stuff is now in my office and the house is as prepared as possible. We have decided to ride out the storm in my office.  Dean is now a Hurricane type 4 and may very well get to be a category 5, so staying home is probably not a good idea since the roof could be ripped off with such high winds.  Since we have never lived thru a hurricane, its probably also a better idea to be with other people than be alone at our house.  Right now its wait & see. We still have to remove our (very large) satellite dish and a few other things around the house. It is gorgeous weather now; it feels surreal that a massive storm is only 36h away …

 Below is the latest path predictions.  For those of you who are not sure where exactly is Cayman in all of that, I have circled Grand Cayman with the red circle.

It looks like Hurricane Dean, the first one on the 2007 season, will either hit Cayman or come quite close.  Julie & I are well into our preparation.  Last night we did a final grocery run to complete our survival kit and started to pick up stuff outside the house such as lawn chairs, flower pots, etc.  The groceries were already packed with people so we were glad we only had a few things to buy.  Most of our important stuff such as electronics and documents will be brought to my office which is a very solid and hurricane-rated building. We are unsure though at this time if we will use my office as a shelter or stay home ; it will depend on the storm trajectory and strengh.  If it is a Hurricane 3 or more, we will go to my office.  If its a 2 or less, we will probably stay home. In any case, the pets will be with us and taken care of.  The car will stay here in Savannah in our garage; although my office building is secure, the area is low-lying and flood prone so all cars will get wrecked.  Here in Savannah risks of flooding is minimal.   The hurricane rating of the meaning of Categories 1 thru 5 are detailed on this website : http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/basics/saffir_simpson.shtml

 Below, is the latest predicted trajectory.  It places Dean just below Grand Cayman at 2am monday ; roughtly 72h away.   By saturday PM we should know for sure the path and strengh.  Fingers crossed.

The first hurricane of the 2007 Hurricane season is on its way!  As of today, it is still well off but possible paths include passing not too far from Grand Cayman.  As you can on the chart below, Cayman is the small island just above the second to last dot on the predicted path.  Of course this path is just a computer model as of right now, so anything could happen.   Julie & I are fully ready for this and will be safe & sound if this thing rolls thru the area.  Stay tuned!