(CMR) A stormy day in Grand Cayman is causing anxious residents to believe a little bit of fake news about the weather – Cayman Marl Road is pleased to confirm there is NO hurricane warning in effect today at all for these islands. In fact, hurricane season is still over one week away.
CMR initially received the fake picture yesterday morning from a concerned resident querying its authenticity. However, since then we have received it multiple times throughout the day today. It appears today's rainy weather has made the rumor even more believable with a “scary lightning storm” in West Bay causing a power outage. One West Bay resident shared:
“This is the worse lightning storm I've seen in a long time and I almost joined my dogs hiding under the bed today.”
Through a bit of research we were able to determine that the warning for the CAT1 Hurricane was actually issued back in August 2008. Some are concerned that the fake news could spur more panic buying at a time when it has started to settle down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A dead giveaway that the post was not current is that there was an image used for the sharing of the story and not a proper URL. When you look at the image shared on WhatsApp the URL is partly visible and it says “archives” in the link. Archives mean it has already been placed in an old area of the website.
Furthermore, no official government websites including the HMCI have up any warnings about the hurricane.
CMR is pleased to confirm that this rumor is absolutely 100% false!
The weather forecast calls for scattered showers over the weekend with moderate east to southeasterly winds and seas are expected across the Cayman area for the next 24 hours in association with a ridge of high pressure just north of the Caribbean Sea. Radar images show scattered showers around the Cayman area which are moving towards the northwest.
Hurricane season starts June 1 and US federal forecasters expect 3 to 6 major hurricanes during the 2020 hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 1. This is considered worse than usual and headlines are already predicting “it's going to be bad”.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid