Rafael hits Cayman’s Sister Islands

Cayman Brac and Little Cayman bore the brunt of Hurricane Rafael as it barrelled over the Cayman islands overnight on Tuesday, according to media reports. 

The hurricane is now headed for the western end of Cuba where it was expected to make landfall as a category 2 storm later on Wednesday morning.  

The Cayman Compass reported that the first damage assessments by emergency responders were expected to begin Wednesday morning in the Sister Islands. 

“Torrential downpours and rough seas fuelled by the storm battered both Sister Islands, as the hurricane made landfall directly over Little Cayman around 9pm Tuesday,” the newspaper said. “Power outages affected households across the islands.”

Shortly before 1am, government advised that an ‘all clear’ for Grand Cayman would take effect at 4am and that the shelter in place for the island would be lifted at that time. A shelter-in-place notice remained in effect, however, for the Sister Islands.

Grand Cayman, home to most of the British Overseas Territory’s population and its business centre, appeared to have escaped the worst of the hurricane.  

On Tuesday morning, the Cuban Civil Defense called on Cubans to prepare as soon as possible, because when the storm makes landfall “it’s important to stay where you are.” The day before, authorities said they had issued an evacuation order for 37,000 people in far eastern Cuba, in the province of Guantanamo, due to bad weather.

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