Any news on Castaway Cay? Please post here if you hear anything

[Cali Cat]

Thank you, yes all the locals were sent home, most of the people there are foreigners including my daughter, I guess they have faith in the shelter, all I want is to know she is fine, it is extremely worrying not knowing or even where to begin asking, I cant seem to find any Disney contact numbers to find out if they send people out to check on them...

I can't even imagine what you must be going through. The whole situation must be super stressful. My heart goes out to you and I hope you hear from your daughter soon.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Thank you, yes all the locals were sent home, most of the people there are foreigners including my daughter, I guess they have faith in the shelter, all I want is to know she is fine, it is extremely worrying not knowing or even where to begin asking, I cant seem to find any Disney contact numbers to find out if they send people out to check on them...

I hope you didn't take my post for being insensitive. Not meant that way. If they have a shelter on-island I'm sure it's far more substantial than most of the simple guest structures. I don't think this storm is pushing the surge level seen in storms like Ike & Katrina. My husband was also explaining some stuff he read yesterday about surge & how it interacts with islands. With islands the water can simply go around to some extent vs. when it just shoves onto a shoreline. Plus, some are saying there are some elevated spots on Castaway Cay that would've been fine. I used to work for a company that built blast-proof buildings for use as control rooms & offices in oil refineries and other industrial applications. I'm sure if Disney intended to keep a storm crew as part of their emergency storm plan (they would've had a plan!) they would've provided a super solid building for them to hunker-down in like that. As to communications, I'm sure they have a satellite phone. It'll be a little time before they get to use it because they would have to go outside to an unobstructed sky. Not sure when a boat or aircraft can get over to the island. The storm is expected to circle back albeit weaker the 2nd time around. Hope you hear something soon. Until then, stay positive. I'm sure your daughter will have some great tales to tell. I wish I could be there!

 

[hanscarlet]

oh Thigman! My heart goes out to you! Please when she checks in let us know ok? I will say my prayers and think good thoughts that they can contact you asap.... how extremely nerveracking!!! (((HUGS)))

stick around because would love to pick your brain when things settle down, after this hurricane, about what life is like to work on CC

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Oh goodness, now even I am stressed about your daughter and I don't know her. Please keep us posted. Hugs!

 

[Jkpark]

Sorry about using caps earlier, it was definitely not intended as shouting, I had been working in caps and had forgotten it on. yes there are definitely about 80 people still on castaway as my daughter is one of them, as an extremely stressed and scared parent I was just trying to find out if they all ok, that's all I wanted to hear

Keeping your daughter and the others on castaway in my thoughts and prayers. Hope you hear something very soon

 

[Garyjames220]

Surely Disney wouldn't leave people on a wee island with no proper shelter

Why would anyone stay on CC with a hurricane coming

I am from UK. Am I missing something

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Shame, shame on those judging because of all caps and low posting. We all need to take a deep breath and weigh it out before judging and posting. I pray all is well for everyone involved. I can't even imagine how stressful it must be not knowing.

 

[tinker&belle]

Any news on your daughter?

 

[APears]

Sorry about using caps earlier, it was definitely not intended as shouting, I had been working in caps and had forgotten it on. yes there are definitely about 80 people still on castaway as my daughter is one of them, as an extremely stressed and scared parent I was just trying to find out if they all ok, that's all I wanted to hear

You and your daughter are in my thoughts. I know how terrified my own parents would be in this situation, and my heart really goes out to you. If you haven't already gotten in contact with her, please PM me and I'll try to help you find a number to call.

 

[Garyjames220]

Can someone plz explain to me why disney would leave people on CC with a hurricane going there

 

[jestracker]

Prayers for the crew that is still on the island. And for their families that are worried about them. Hope you all hear from them soon. As for the island it can be rebuilt in time.

 

[tink1970]

I can't reply to why and what Disney was thinking BUT having lived in the Caribbean and on the coast of Florida for decades now, I can say many organizations have "essential" and "nonessential" storm personnel. Essential remain behind for functioning during and immediately after an "event" (hurricane, flooding, etc) whereas nonessential come behind after the fact anywhere from 12-72 hours later and relieve them. I've been on both sides of the coin and they are just...necessary (in my case, I have a medical background). I suspect that was the logic...some positions were deemed vital to remain by someone in Operations. That's my best guess anyway.

 

[MUN]

Can someone plz explain to me why disney would leave people on CC with a hurricane going there

Don't believe everything you read on the internet.

 

[Garyjames220]

Don't believe everything you read on the internet.

Why do you find this hard to beleive to ?

 

[Anna114]

Can someone plz explain to me why disney would leave people on CC with a hurricane going there

If I had to guess, like a pp said there are non-essential personnel and essential. At my job, I am essential, I have to go to work. Disney is a business, they need to get CC up and running as soon as possible. I'm sure, as soon as it is safe, they have a ship/boat headed out to repair what needs repairing. When storms like this hit, they take a financial hit. Disney probably has something like a bomb shelter for these people

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Since none of us really know the workings of CC I don't think any of us can give a positive reason as to why some were left behind. I don't doubt however that Disney has a spot for them to keep them safe.

 

[perditax]

When I worked at a large newspaper on the east coast of Florida, we were expected to shelter at work in the event of a hurricane so we could get the newspaper out. But the building was rated for a cat 4 hurricane and we had gigantic diesel generators (to power the presses). And getting the newspaper out (pre-internet) seemed important, especially in the time of a disaster.

I'll admit I'm somewhat stumped as to why Disney would leave people behind on a vacation island, but I don't know what kind of structures they have there. There's no way they'd set themselves up for the bad press of leaving people behind on a tiny island directly in the path of this storm if there was any chance their lives were at risk. So either they have a VERY VERY well-built shelter, or this is a shaggy dog story.

 

[PlanoNana]

Disney is the master at imagineering - making things look different than they really are. When they developed Castaway Cay they KNEW it was going to be in the path of hurricanes so I'm sure they built it to withstand more than the worst they could imagine. Then they finished it to look like grass huts and shacks, etc. If they left CMs there in the path of a Cat 5 hurricane I'm sure they had well thought out plans in place to ensure their safety.

But we will all be relieved to hear a report from the island to know all is well and exactly how it fared.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Surely Disney wouldn't leave people on a wee island with no proper shelter

Why would anyone stay on CC with a hurricane coming

I am from UK. Am I missing something

They have a storm shelter. They didn't leave a staff there without a shelter that would withstand a hurricane. My understanding is that some of the crew were evacuated, but some stayed behind. Those would be the ones considered "essential" to the operations of the island.

 

[DisneyWonder'09]

There is no position on CC that is essential enough to risk a human life. Period.
It is a vacation island with no sick people to take care of, no one that could not be evacuated, and no reason to leave anyone behind in a cat 4 hurricane.