I wrote this to celebrate the event when Hurricane Debby on August 24 2000 took a different turn and missed our Islands. As a result we benefited from the ships that were to visit, Barbuda, Saint Martin, and Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States Virgin Island. They all visited us instead.

Today, we have by the Grace of God, and some people are saying “we dodged a bullet”, from Hurricane Delta that was going to take a dead hit at us. Instead it stayed 100 miles south of Grand Cayman. Not as a Tropical Storm but a Hurricane that as it passed was a Cat 3 and now a Cat 4. (at time of posting this.)

By Joan Wilson

They say it’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow somebody good

As I watched five cruise ships anchor from where I stood

The sun was so bright yet the sky was hazy

And the wind from the northeast was driving me crazy

*

Every stroke I made with my broom in the morning

Seemed useless and in vain for the leaves kept falling

But it’s that time of year and hurricane season

And those ships are here for a very good reason

*

The islands they would normally be visiting today

Are threatened by hurricane Debby heading their way

And we know hurricanes can be so unpredictable

We must be prepared to help whenever we are able

*

Can you imagine eleven thousand tourists on five ships they say

Taxis and tour buses must’ve had a field day

The clerks in the shops were smiling as well

They were very pleased with their sales I could tell

*

And the tourists were all pleased with the sudden diversion

They said coming to Cayman had been a very good decision

A beach such as ours they had never seen before

Plenty duty free shopping in all the stores

*

The Island was clean and the people so polite

Would they visit us again? – well they just might

So accolades for Cayman the nicest place to be

We sparkle like a diamond in the blue Caribbean Sea.

END

Prayer for those in the path of the storm – Attr. to Margaret Feinberg

We humbly ask you, Creator, Lord of All,
Protect us, guard us, keep those in the path of the storm
safe from every danger, sheltered on every side,
from the harsh gusts of wind to the wild spin of tornadoes,
from the firebolts of the lightning to the soundbolts of the thunder,
from the receding waters to the storm surges to come.