Hurricane Gilbert has devastated Jamaica, leaving at least six dead and causing injuries to dozens, with damage costs expected to reach hundreds of millions of dollars. Over 90,000 people have been left homeless as roofs were ripped off, buildings flooded, and homes destroyed across the island. The scale of destruction has overwhelmed disaster response teams, with many shelters struggling to provide food and necessities to displaced residents.

Published Thursday, September 15, 1988

The fury of Hurricane ‘Gilbert

By Garfield Grandison

The vicious Hurricane Gilbert which battered the island on Monday has left an unspecified number of people dead, caused injuries to dozens, and while doing extensive damage to property and buildings islandwide, left thousands of people in shelters.

The number of reported deaths was reported to have been six, but could rise to much more when lines of communications are restored. The breakdown in communications has added to the difficulty in ascertaining the number of casualties and their identities.

Government officials say that damage caused by the hurricane which crippled the economic life of the country is expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

The devastating hurricane has left more than 90,000 people without a roof over their heads. Many are now at disaster centres which were set up across the island while others are staying with relatives and friends whose houses were either unscathed or not badly damaged.

Flooded buildings, blown-down houses, blown-off roofs and damaged roads dominated reports relayed to the Office of Disaster Preparedness (ODP) during and after the passage of the savage hurricane which affected the rich, the poor and the needy.

In Washington Gardens, Cooreville Gardens, Duhaney Park, Beverly Hills, Forest Hills and Wareika Hills – all in the Corporate Area of Kingston and St. Andrew – the roofs of many houses went with the winds.

On Dames Road in Kingston a huge mango tree landed on the roof of a house, damaging furniture and sending its nine occupants, including three children, scampering. Also, many people told The Gleaner that clothing, furniture and other household items were destroyed or washed away by flood waters.

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Communications

Because of the widespread destruction of the island’s communications network, very few reports have come in from rural Jamaica. According to reports from southern Clarendon, the homes of some 10,000 persons were transformed into temporary rivers on the day of the hurricane – Monday, September 12 – after their roofs were ripped off by the strong winds.

Prime Minister Edward Seaga toured several parts of Kingston and St. Andrew on Monday after the passage of the deadly hurricane which cut short the lives of at least six people.

Following the tour he met with Commander John McFarlane, acting director of the Office of Disaster Preparedness. Mr. Seaga told The Gleaner later that he had urged the ODP to concentrate more on transportation, explaining that one of the greatest needs at this time was food.

Mr. Seaga said food was available through the Bureau of Citizens Affairs and the Ministry of Social Security, and kitchens to prepare meals had been made available by the Jamaica Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Jamaica House.

On Monday, Mr. Seaga said he was expecting the transportation problem to be solved by Tuesday. But it was evident up to press time last night that it had not been solved. The ODP had to appeal for voluntary assistance from the public. The seven trucks made available by the Jamaica Defence Force to the ODP are far from adequate to effectively deal with the heavy workload left behind by Gilbert, a hurricane which most Jamaicans will never forget.

When a Gleaner news team visited the smelly National Arena, one of the main disaster centres in the Corporate Area, just after midday yesterday, many people there said that they had not been fed.

Mr. Edmund Bartlett, MP for St. Andrew Eastern, told The Gleaner that in one instance the situation at the National Arena “got out of control” as there were 1,457 people there on Monday night.

He said that arrangements had been made to have the people at the Arena and other disaster shelters probably fed. Because of the massive number of people now needing food, the ODP appealed to hotels to make their kitchens available to prepare meals for Jamaicans who were forced into shelters because of the hurricane destruction.

Mr. Bartlett said that Bottom River, Tavern and Mona Commons had been completely destroyed while Hope Pastures and Hermitage and other adjoining areas had been ravaged.

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