It’s hard to tell what this wreckage once was.

While relief workers distributed aid supplies throughout the devastated community, Paloma’s survivors in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman were busy picking up the pieces.

Liz Walton, who weathered the storm in her seaside home on North East Bay, Cayman Brac, told Cayman Net News that the island’s residents were pulling together to clean up and rebuild after Paloma’s destruction.

“In these times, the best comes out in people. It is so heartening to see the people here helping their neighbours to get their communities and districts back together. It really showcases the beauty of the human spirit,” she said.

Ms Walton described “extensive damage” in Cayman Brac’s eastern districts, where she said electricity was a big concern. Due to the relatively high number of senior citizens living in the area, she said everyone was hoping for power restoration to happen as soon as possible to give residents a little more comfort.

After going through Hurricane Paloma, Ms Walton described it as “like Ivan and a little bit more”.

She described the terrifying intensity of the fast-moving storm: “It was very rapid. It came in with a great big bang and a roar. And the rain – it was shocking to see the ‘white rain’. To see everything flying about. And not knowing what you would see when it was all over,” she said.

The noise of the storm, she said, was what would stick with her.

“All of the strange sounds. There was a lot of anxiety. Many people will tell you it sounded like someone was going around your house and knocking on the doors and windows and kept knocking. It is the sounds that will last for a long, long time in your mind,” she said.

Like most Brac residents, Ms Walton experienced significant damage to her home. Being located on the east of the island and also on the water, Ms Walton said her house was a “prime target”. But displaying a remarkably positive attitude, she said, “It’s nothing that a hammer and nails can’t fix.”

Ms Walton was speaking with Cayman Net News while assisting in the distribution of relief supplies in Stake Bay, stopping the conversation every so often to hand out bags of supplies to fellow storm-weary residents.

She was working with a private relief effort organised by the Foster family of Foster’s Food Fair. Managing Director Woody Foster and his sisters Tanya and Stephanie Foster were in the Brac on Friday, 14 November, giving out relief supplies donated by the company. Ms Walton was with the Fosters stuffing bags and distributing them as cars came and went with more bags being delivered to the community.

She expressed the gratitude of Sister Islands residents for the help received from various quarters.

“We are very blessed and very thankful,” she said. “There has been such an outpouring of love, support and concern from our brothers and sisters in Grand Cayman. It has been a remarkable humanitarian effort from so many people, both from corporations and families, and we are all so very grateful.”

Ms Walton described the roller coaster of emotions experienced by storm survivors:

“On Saturday when we got home, there was such a range of emotions. We felt shock, still some fear, we were grieving, and yet felt so extremely thankful,” she said.

Busy with her volunteer duties, Ms Walton went back to handing out relief supplies, but before she did, she took the time again to give thanks.

“The response from the Government and people has been truly tremendous,” she said.