Posted on 09/15/2004 8:37:06 PM PDT by Pikamax
Nice picts of your grand kids on your profile... Love the beach...
St Croix went berserk after...I forget which hurricane. The one which went on to hit Charleston.
Funny thing: I was on Guam after "super typhoon Paka" (150MPH+) in 98. NO looting. NO robbing or rioting. Just locals and military and "expats" all pitching it. Right after the storm, people were out clearing roads, shoveling sand, shifting trees, without being asked. There was a bit of thieving (generators especially) but NOTHING like looting. It was actually a very positive experience, in how people can react well after a disaster.
Funny how different islands are.
Thanks ARA.
The beach and the island will return,
but never as overbuilt as it had gotten.
Personally, I hope that everyone can now
see the folly and greed of that man-made canal.
Thanks, Matt.
I know you've been praying all along.
You bet. Their first showers, air conditioning, and sit down restaurant meal will be like heaven.
The show "Survivor" starts its new season tomorrow. So canned, so contrived. The real deal is Cayman, tonight.
Wishing for a speedy flight!
Yep, and if they make the flight,
I will book them a hotel suite for
the weekend, and cook a huge turkey
with all the trimmings Friday.
The baby (17 months old - see him on my
FR page) has a horrid heat rash that his
grandpa will tend to first thing.
Fingers crossed!
G'night, gotta sign off.
I thought the while world HATED us Hmmmmmmm must be just untill they need us
Wow!
No word yet on my mother in law's place up the beach at Sundowner. The place is pretty old so I doubt that it faired well, though the units in her building had storm shutters on the beach side. Did you or your neighbors have any shutters?
David Olson's photos are amazing. I wish he'd supply some captions though.
If the U.K. government asked us to send in the Marines, I'm sure we would within hours. But they haven't. Instead, the Brits have sent some naval personnel in to try to calm things. That may be inadequate, but it's Tony Blair's decision. The last thing we'd want to do is show up our ally.
I'm assuming there's no right to bear arms in the Caymans? Times like this is when that right is needed the most.
It is obvious that the government was not at all prepared for a disaster of Ivan's magnitude. I don't know if I agree with you about what effect this will have on Cayman's future, though. I suspect that Ivan will be a boon to growth since big hotel developers will be able to tout the obvious advantages of upgrading the quality of construction on 7 mile beach.
One option would be to dispatch a couple of Coast Guard cutters with some Tactical Law Enforcement Teams on board. This is a "humanitarian" situation and the existing agreement with the Grand Caymans and the Coast Guard would work.
Imagine a place where the people depend nearly 100% on imports. Imagine a place that depends almost 100% on the perception of stability. Imagine a place with strict gun control. Imagine the same place with locals getting by on government assistance and the odd service job while the ex-pats and ruling class (a few wealthy extended families) have a run of the place. Imagine a place steeped in pirate history and old grudges. Now imagine that place blown up by a hurricane with every man for himself and the one wielding the meanest machete gets the food. The few British trained police are operating in the dark after sundown. The riff raff have been waiting for this day to come.
They got themselves in this predicament by keeping arms length with the US on financial dealings and by enforcing strict gun control. I doubt the US is very much wanted because of the bond of trust that would be broken with their investors.
My suggestion is that the wealthy investors open up and give them assistance. I seriously doubt much of that will happen.
And we wonder why Castro remains firmly in control.
PS: the assistance and open forum website for Cayman relief is down. People were starting to post some really shocking things about what is happening there. I guess the powers to be couldn't have the bad press leaking out. Really nice.
Home page of the Royal Navy Frigate sent to help.
Thanks for the ping!
I'm sure there's no RKBA in Cayman, so when the power goes out, machete wielding gangs are the only power. Glad I live where at least I can defend myself.
Yeah, it's a bag of worms because the Caymans have been a tax haven in conflict with the IRS.
What rumors have you seen or heard about what's going on?
Not quite true.
GCI is in the USSOUTHCOM AOR and as such, the government of the GCI can request via formal means (through the US Ambassador/Consul there) for US Humanitarian Assistance.
We're just a phone-call away, but the GCI needs to formally request assistance.
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