“Since my man and I ain’t together”. We’ll leave the middle bit out of the well-known  “Stormy Weather” song made famous by Billie Holiday. I was humming it to myself as I got almost drowned trying to unblock a drain that was of no use because of all the leaves causing my home to be in danger of becoming wet on the inside as well as the outside.

Our Discovery Day holiday was a rainy day one and there was widespread flooding all over Grand Cayman. It was ironic that this day marks the start of being prepared for the hurricane season, which has started early. Already we have had one Atlantic storm, Alberto, which luckily did not pose a threat here and did no damage to the North Carolinas. There is also a tropical Storm Bud in the Pacific, off the coast of Mexico.

However, none of this should have had happened but no one told the weather gods they were too quick off the mark. But gods don’t abide by human rules.

The weather closed all government primary and secondary schools on Grand Cayman and most of the private schools, too yesterday (22).

With 8 inches of rain falling on Monday and some families having to leave their homes, especially in the George Town area, the Red Cross Shelter opened.

The inclement weather also caused flight delays because of the low visibility. Some tourists staying in Little Cayman had to stay an extra day and there were also problems on Cayman Brac to flights because of Cayman Airways cancellations.

A low lying area that habitually gets flooded out every time there is heavy rain is the Humane Society’s headquarters on North Sound Road near A.L. Thompson’s by the roundabout. It was no different on Monday when they had to appeal for volunteers, sandbags, pumps and foster homes for all their cats and dogs.

The National Roads Authority were out clearing blocked drains (they didn’t pass by when I was at work trying to unblock mine) to free roadways that were flooded.

The forecast was not good for Tuesday but at the time of writing this article (3pm) there hasn’t been too much rain.

And the forecast for today (Wed) is “Cloudy skies with a 70% chance of showers and thunder. Some showers may be locally heavy and lead to further flooding of low-lying areas. Temperatures will rise to the mid 80’s. Winds will be south 15 to 20 knots with higher gusts in and around heavy showers. Seas will be rough with wave heights of 4 to 6 feet especially along the south and west coasts. Small crafts should continue to exercise caution over open waters.” This bulletin was given to us by the Cayman Islands National Weather Service.

For all up to date weather visit them at www.weather.ky/forecast/index.htm

Keep dry and always be prepared. Even if your man and you are still together.