The son and family of a Weyburn couple who live on Grand Cayman Island are picking up the pieces in the aftermath of one of the fiercest hurricanes to hit the area in many years.

Chris Kellett, son of Norman and Joyce Kellett of Weyburn, is a construction contractor who lives on Grand Cayman with his wife Cheryl and children Brittney and Braydon. Chris is a former resident of Weyburn, who owned and operated Kellett Construction for a number of years before they moved to the Caymans eight years ago.

Hurricane Ivan pounded through the region, causing unprecedented amounts of damage on Granada and Jamaica as well as the Caymans before recently coming on-shore in the southern U.S. and causing widespread damage and deaths.

"We hadn't heard from them from Sunday to Tuesday (Sept. 12 to 14) because all the land lines were down, but they were able to get a cell phone call to us by Tuesday," said Joyce.

Noting the TV news showed the devastation to Granada to about 80 per cent of all buildings on that island, Joyce said of the Caymans, "It's equally devastated. At least 80 per cent of the homes were damaged. Our son's house had a foot and a half of water and part of the roof is damaged."

The family was able to be in a shelter during the storm and were not hurt as a result of the winds clocked at over 200 km an hour. As of the last word Joyce had from Grand Cayman, the island was without electricity or running water, and all schools were closed until these services can be restored. Joyce's grandchildren are in Grades 11 and A level respectively; the A level is the equivalent of Grade 13 or the first year of university.

With such a huge storm going through the area, the entire small island nation was hit hard, said Joyce, noting the island is only 22 miles long and an average of seven miles wide, in places only one mile wide.

"The waves washed right over the island. The vehicles sat in sea water up to their windows, and nobody seems to be able to say if they can be fixed or not. There's hardly a tree left standing and power poles are down," said Joyce, adding that new poles will be brought in the next while from Florida and Belize.

While being situated in the Caribbean, the island as a rule does not experience very many hurricanes as most of them turn north away from the island. The last time the island was hit by such a strong storm was 1932.

As a territory of Britain, that government is sending aid to help the island nation out.

The Kelletts live a few miles outside of the capital city of Georgetown.

As the Caymans are known for their banking services and lack of income tax, the government there is anxious to get life back to normal as soon as possible, said Joyce, but the residents there are still dealing with the impact of the storm.

"For most people they really couldn't believe the destruction. It's definitely a very scary and emotional thing on an island that's so beautiful. Everything is in ruins. Some areas were described as looking like a nuclear bomb had gone off," said Joyce.