Hurricane Dean shifted to the south today, influenced by an area of high pressure in the western Gulf of Mexico, raising hopes that Grand Cayman might yet be spared a direct hit on Monday morning.
In a 1pm press conference on Sunday with members of local and international media organisations including CNN, USA Today and the Miami Herald, Cayman Islands government officials stressed that nothing was being taken for granted, despite the more favourable forecasts of the preceding 12 hours.
Governor Stuart Jack said that Dean still represented a "significant threat" and he was reassured to see residents treating the hurricane with the "upmost seriousness".
At 1pm (Cayman time), as the core of the category-four hurricane neared the eastern edges of Jamaica, forecasters at the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) reported the storm was packing sustained winds of 145 miles per hour (mph) with higher gusts. Encouragingly for the Cayman Islands, the hurricane-force winds still extended for 'only' 120 miles, or 60 miles from the centre of the storm.
At 1pm, the centre of the storm was predicted to pass about 80 miles to the south of Grand Cayman, although with the system still more than 12 hours away, much could still change.
Still, the Cayman Islands National Hurricane Committee issued a more positive statement shortly after 1pm on Sunday, saying it believed that only tropical storm conditions would be felt in any of the three islands.
But it cautioned that hurricane systems were variable and unpredictable and urg ed everyone to continue to monitor closely the potentially dangerous situation.
Given the current forecasts, Grand Cayman was expected to experience tropical storm force winds overnight and throughout much of Monday. It is still unclear whether electricity or water supplies will be affected.
Wave action on Grand Cayman is expected to affect all coastal areas, but especially along the south coast and the West Bay peninsula. Waves in these areas, if the current projections hold, could be as high as 16 feet to 20 feet. Rainfall is expected to be about four to six inches, with possibly much more to follow after the system passes.
Senior Meteorological Manager Fred Sambula warned that "there can be an explosion in intensity," and that fact, coupled with Dean's characteristic "wobbling," meant that there was no room for complacency.
"We are far from being out of the woods and are still particularly vulnerable to high winds, storm surge and battering waves and we can ill afford to let down our guard," added National Hurricane Committee chairman Donovan Ebanks.
In other news on Sunday:
- The British Royal Navy has two ships in the Caribbean that can be despatched to Cayman's aid if necessary, Governor Stuart Jack announced. The British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, and other ministers are said to be monitoring the situation.
- All officers of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service are now on duty and will perform their tasks on a rotating basis. The police stations at George Town and Bodden Town have been moved to the move robust surroundings of the Family Life Centre on Academy Way and Bodden Town Primary School respectively. The RCIPS warned that emergency personnel would not be able to respond to calls in the middle of the storm and urged people to follow up with the 911 service when the storm abates. Governor Jack said that reinforcements could be sent for from police services in other UK overseas territories if necessary.
- Most airlines were still operating as of 1pm on Sunday, with Cayman Airways expected to continue flying until about 4pm.
- There were an estimated 7,000 visitors in the Cayman Islands when the alert was made on Thursday. By Sunday lunchtime, all but about 1,500 had been evacuated.
- All residents of Little Cayman were evacuated by Sunday lunchtime.
- Cable & Wireless (C&W) said that its One Technology Square building would not be available to the general public since it will be used to shelter C&W employees and their families during the storm.
- All 19 shelters opened at 1pm on Sunday with a total capacity of about 4,000. Governor Jack and Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts paid a visit to the hurricane shelter at Prospect Primary School on Sunday afternoon.
- Tortuga Imports in Miami said it was ready to act as a staging area for relief efforts if necessary.
- Governor Jack reassured the international financial community that Cayman law firms, accounting firms, banks, trust companies and other financial services organisations were geared up to maintain business continuity.