At a Cayman Islands Government press briefing this afternoon, July 3, 2024, Premier Julianna O’Connor-Connolly urged members of the public to “remain calm, stay prepared, look after one another as we face this challenge together.” She added, “We can minimize the impact of Hurricane Beryl and protect our community if we do it together.”
Weather Conditions
Regarding the conditions that the community will have to work together under, the Premier said:
The current status, I am reliably informed, [is that] Hurricane Beryl is moving through the Caribbean.
As you would see, it was just south of Kingston [and] is expected to approach our jurisdiction early on Thursday morning.
The center, currently, and let me put a caveat in that if none of the current situations and assumptions does not change, is expected to pass 117 miles south of Cayman Brac at approximately midnight and 112 miles south of Little Cayman at about 1:00 am on Thursday, just about 69 miles south of our island here, Grand Cayman, at about 4:30 am.
The Premier added:
If the storm continues in its forecasted track, we can expect, I am reliably informed, the following weather conditions for the Cayman Islands:
- Grand Cayman- starting tonight, overcast skies, [and] widespread thunderstorms.
- Early Thursday morning, tropical storm conditions as Hurricane Beryl approaches… but by early Thursday afternoon, God’s willing, conditions will begin to subside, and we hope that our impact would not be as bad as we’re preparing for.
She continued:
But we’ve learned from over the years, because of the unpredictability of storms, that we prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
We anticipate that there would be widespread flooding reducing by evening as the hurricane begins to move away from the territory.
[Regarding] seas, we are anticipating extremely rough seas, significant swells, some storm surge peaking around Thursday morning.
Rough seas are expected through Friday.
The Premier explained further:
Late Wednesday night, we expect tropical storms conditions in the sister islands.
By Thursday morning, it is expected conditions remaining as is conditions should begin to subside.
There will be some flooding on the sister islands that should also be reduced by Thursday afternoon, as in Grand Cayman, there will be some rough seas, especially on the south coast of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman swells will be significant.
She concluded:
Hurricane Beryl poses, and I want to emphasize, significant threat to all three of our islands, including life threatening storm surges, damaging waves, heavy rainfall which may lead to flooding.
As you know, we had quite a bit of rain recently and the grounds are already very saturated, so it lends to trees having a tendency to fall over much quicker had it come four weeks ago when we were still experiencing the drug period.
The Cayman Islands National Weather Service is, as expected, closely monitoring hurricane burial, and our team will continue to provide these regular updates of the hurricane’s progress.
Government’s commitment, it goes without saying, [is] to public safety and preparedness.
We have taken every reasonable step to ensure that all of our people, Caymanians, residents, tourists alike, are as safe and as prepared as they can be.
Dani [Coleman] and her team have opened the shelters, some of them staggered. There are some facilities, for example, the Georgetown, the new high school, John Gray, as well as Clifton Hunter.
The Premier also discussed the concept of a curfew and whether it would apply to residents of the Cayman Islands during Hurricane Beryl’s passage.
She explained:
We also are going to give a specific call just before we go into shelter in place at 6:00 pm for the Brac and 6:00 pm [and] for Grand Cayman as well.
So, [for] all three islands, 6:00 pm this evening, shelter in place.
Now we have the option, obviously, with the Commissioner of Police, Kurt Walton, that he can, on his discretion, do a curfew.
We’ve had quite a bit of curfews during COVID and you are responsible if you prove yourselves to continued responsibility as you have displayed over the past few days, I am sure the Commissioner will be the Commissioner, as he always be. He will not be punitive.
However, the Premier added that the Commissioner has the full backing of herself and her colleagues to do whatever is necessary to maintain order and peace in this territory in the event that looting starts.
Giving a warning to looters, the Premier stressed:
So, if you’re planning on looting, rest assured we have a very competent Commissioner of Police and he will be on the streets.
Do not get the idea that everybody will be locked down and this is going to be your panacea to go looting.
This is the Cayman Islands and we will do everything necessary to maintain law and order.
The Police Commissioner Kurt Walton, Her Excellency The Governor Mrs Jane Owen, the Minister of Tourism Kenneth Bryan, Minister of Financial Services Andre Ebanks, the Minister of Health Sabrina Turner and representatives from other Government agencies were also present to share their concerns and provide pertinent information. A statement was read on behalf of Minister Jay Ebanks who was working in his community at the time of the press briefing.
In addition, the Leader of the Opposition, Roy McTaggart, was present at the press conference to express his remarks and concerns about the Cayman Islands community, given the uncertainty surrounding Beryl.
