Business
October 16 2025
Cedric Stephens | Can Jamaica withstand a Hurricane Gilbert 2.0?
Updated
December 9 2025
5
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A school in Portland is in shambles following the passage of Hurricane Gilbert in September 1988.
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A plane rests on trees at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, following the passage of Hurricane Gilbert in September 1988.
The September 19 disruptive flooding in the country’s capital was a stark, wet reminder: our island is grappling with a problem that is deepening every year. This event occurred 37 years and seven days after Hurricane Gilbert, a Category 4 hurricane, made landfall near Kingston, at around 1 p.m. One reader, writing about the flood, said “there is no proper drainage anywhere in Jamaica. Westmoreland floods any time it rains. Roads are impassable to Negril from St Elizabeth”.
