Cayman Islands - Ivan !

[Vogata]

Too the Kichi’s out there

Have anybody heard from Lee? If I’m not wrong he is located on the Cayman’s. Must confess that some of us gathered around a PC is feeling some unexpected concern (maybe just a glitch of humanity) but all the same reports off his wellbeing are welcomed.

When following Ivan we suddenly find that 20°C bellow and often green summers are just small potatoes.
Wishing all of you in harms the best of luck

[philip]

NI board, says no contact since storm hit, but they had talked with him right before it got there and he was preparing for the worst.

[dick benbow]

This board has connected many of us to koi kichi's all over the world.
When they hurt, we do too. Makes you much more aware of things world wide than before. Lee and I have exchanged many emails, and I am most anxious to hear from him. Right now there's a little knot in the pit of my stomach as i write this. i too have been monitoring NI as well.

Lee, our thoughts and prayers are with you!

[Dale Torok]

I spoke with Lee by phone late Friday and heard from him via email on Saturday before Ivan hit there in full force. Grand Cayman reports widespread damage, at least some damage to between 25% and 50% of buildings on the island.

However, there have been no reports of deaths or serious injury on Grand Cayman. So, if these reports hold true, Lee may have his hands full for a while cleaning up a mess at his home and businesses, but he will have survived one of the worst storms to hit the island.

My main concern is the filtration equipment he had sitting on pallets outside in the last pictures I saw of his place. I would imagine it would be easy for 150 mph winds to blow 4 Nexus units out to sea if they were sitting there empty on pallets waithing to be installed for his new pond. Hopefully, these units and several other things sitting outside, unprotected, were stored out of harms way before Ivan showed up. When I spoke with him on Friday, he had his plumber outside working franically to undo any and all loose items on the new pond that could have been taken out with high winds.

Egad!!! We may have winter in Kentucky, but at least we don't have to deal with hurricanes!

Hopefully, we'll all hear something from Lee soon.

Dale

[Bancherd]

There are many large storms in the area this year. I have two brothers living in Orlando, FLA who had seen two(so far) storms passing by.

Hold tight!

[B.Scott]

Been keepen my fingers crossed for Lee. Hope to hear from him soon with good news!

[Vogata]

We hope this is good new and now join Scott in crossing fingers.

(Better known in Norway as sitting on them, due to the amount of work possible to do with them when kept in that manor)

[Dale Torok]

Fellow koi enthusiasts,

It appears that the early report we was premature and incomplete regarding the amount of storm damage at Lee Aronfelds. It is true that Lee and his wife Sheila came through the hurricane with their lives along with their dogs. I had heard that there was some dmage to the roof of thier home, but that structurally it had survived.

Saturday I received a call from Griff Thomasson, a good friend of the Aronfelds, who has visited their home on Grand Cayman. Griff had just spoken with Lee and recieved a much more grim report. Griff posted some comments on the NI forum, which I hope is appropriate to copy here instead of trying to relate the news:


From Griff:

"I just got a phone call from Lee he wanted to hear the voice of some other people . He and Sheila and thier dogs are OK , thats about all. Lee said he lost some of the roof off his house , house was flooded , everthing below pool is gone . The roofs on his businesses are gone and stores have been looted. Not a tree left standing on Island !!!!!
Water is in short supply Lee has 2 gallons left and he hopes Gov. will start tomorrow getting some water out to people , he drilled holes in the gas tanks of his cars to get the gas out for the generator , pond is filled with trash , he is still cleaning it out . He had just pulled out his favorite ogon that had died. They have pulled all the carpet out of his house .
Looting is a big problem . Cars and trucks piled up like toys ,
Lees words were 28 hours of 200+ MPH winds , you can not even imagine the damage -

If you have visited Lees you know how high the clift is water came up over it !!!

Pray for Lee
Griff"


It sounds pretty ghastly down there right now. I spoke with Griff again yesterday. He is a building contractor living on the Atlantic coastline of North Carolina. Griff is trained in severe storm damage repair having worked with the government and r4esidents restoring infrastructure and homes after hurricanes like Hugo and others that have struck the North Carolina coast in years past. Griff is trying to make arrangements to travel to Grand Cayman to see if he can be of assistance to Lee in putting his business buildings and homes back together. We could only hope to have friends like that!! Griff also tells me that his wfe Merilyn will also go with him to do what she can to help Sheila with what must be an overwhelming task to clean up after the hurricane.

I don't know why, byut there seems to be little if any coverage on the major news channels concerning the storm damage in the Caymans.

I can only reiterate Griff's request for prayer. We can only hope and pray that their world can be put back in order soon.

Dale

[kiky]

Every time a disaster like this strucks, we feel more human, more thoughtful and concern for others. Recently Mike M have experienced this storm in Florida. But now it appears that the damage is greater in Cayman Island. Hope LEE can bravely overcome the situation.

[MikeM]

Kiky: The damage we experienced was nothing compared to the Cayman Islands. Makes one appreciate what you have and realize how petty your problems are.

Lee: When the time comes you can read this post (hopefully very soon), know that there have been prayers and best wishes for you and your family. All who have enjoyed your special humor and insights are missing you and wanting you to be well and recovered from the emotional trauma.