Carby: Cayman Islands prepared for Gustav

By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

~~Adz:Right~~GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – WITH the deepening threat of Gustav, officials of the Hazard Management Cayman Islands (HMCI) expressed with confidence that the people of that country have and are adequately readying themselves for the approaching tropical system.

Gustav, which has already left a trail of mudslides and torrential rainfall in Haiti and the Dominican Republic with in excess of 20 persons dead, is expected to pass in proximity of The Cayman Islands sometime between today [Aug. 29] and tomorrow.

SKNVibes spoke with HMCI’s Director Dr. Barbara Carby yesterday and she rated the level of preparedness in the country as “very high” on both national and personal levels.

“The level of preparedness here has been very high and, at the national level, the National Hazard Management Council has met several times and reviewed all the procedures for preparedness of the different sub-committees. On the sister islands, The Sister Islands Emergency Committee has also been meeting and they have also gone through their preparations. So we are in a position where we can say the national mechanism is ready for Gustav.

“The population as well has done very well. They have been buying their supplies and so on for several days now. We have been sending out advice to them at different points in time as to what they should do. Now they are doing their final touches, ensuring that they have enough supplies, ensuring that they have adequate lighting, ensuring that their shutters are in place, ensuring that their windows and doors can fasten and lock properly and that there is enough medication and so on.”

Dr. Carby explained that preparations are now in their final stages as the country braces for the impact of Gustav. She also spoke of the availability of public shelters, noting they would be open and available should the need arises.

“The public shelters would be open in good time; so those persons who need to move to shelter are encouraged to do so early. Of course, as always, we would state that a public shelter is a last resort and persons can also make plans to move to friends, relatives, other family members and so on, if they need shelter.”

The Public Awareness and Communications Officer for HMCI, Simon Boxall, also spoke with this media house and explained that the people of the Cayman Islands “have a high sense of awareness and preparedness” owing to the experience they had in September 2004 when the country was hit by Hurricane Ivan.

“People are really taking the hurricane very, very seriously. Everyone is getting prepared as quickly as possible…so if it does come our way, we are going to be ready for it.”