Gustav Crosses the Sister Islands

Published 29th August, 11:25pm

Hurricane Gustav update: 11:00p.m. Friday, 29 August 2008

From the Joint Communications Service (JCS), Cayman Islands National Emergency Operations Centre

Key messages:

1. Rain bands associated with Hurricane Gustav continue to affect the Cayman Islands with rainfall of 6.82 inches being recorded this afternoon at the Gerrard Smith International Airport on Cayman Brac. Models are forecasting around 6-8 inches of rainfall. Flooding of low lying areas is expected.

2. A hurricane WARNING remains in effect for the Cayman Islands.

3. In the Sister Islands, currently, hurricane force winds are blowing from the south-southeast. Wave heights are forecast up to 15 to 20 feet, with a storm surge of 2 to 4 feet near the coast.

4. Grand Cayman is currently being affected by winds of around 55 mph from the north and northwest. These will gradually increase to near 65 mph by midnight tonight. Wave heights of up to 16 - 18 feet can be expected on the north, west and southern coasts of Grand Cayman, with a storm surge of 1 to 3 feet near the coast. Winds will gradually move to the west and southwest from 2 a.m., falling below tropical storm force by 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.

5. At 10 p.m. Gustav was located near 19.5 N 80.4 W or 25 miles west-southwest of Little Cayman or 55 miles east-northeast of Grand Cayman. The storm is moving northwest near 10 mph with maximum sustained winds near 80 mph and some further strengthening is likely tonight.

   Shelters: Shelters were locked down at 10pm. At that time there were 715 shelter occupants in Grand Cayman, 432 on Cayman Brac, and 14 on Little Cayman.

   Utilities: Sporadic power outages have been reported in West Bay. The power is out from Driftwood to Old Man Bay in North Side and from Frank Sound junction to East End. CUC will begin work to restore power as soon as it is safe to do so. At 5pm in Cayman Brac piped water was turned off.

   Infrastructure: The road south of Moritts is reported to be blocked by sand. Homes and roads near Windward Road in North Sound Estates are reported flooded. Sea water has flooded roads in Cayman Kai.

   The next bulletin will be issued at 1:00 a.m. local time Saturday 30 August.

   For further information contact: Susan Watler