Gilbert

Hurricane Gilbert is the second most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin. It was the eighth tropical storm and third hurricane of the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season. Gilbert wreaked havoc in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico for nearly 9 days. more...

Home
Building Toys
Blocks
Erector Sets
Modern (1970-Now)
Meccano
Other
Vintage (Pre-1970)
Gilbert
Other
K'NEX
LEGO
Lincoln Logs
Mega Bloks
Other Building Toys
Rokenbok
Tinker Toys
Classic Toys
Educational
Electronic, Battery, Wind-Up
Model RR, Trains
Models, Kits
Outdoor Toys, Structures
Pretend Play, Preschool
Puzzles
Radio Control
Robots, Monsters, Space Toys
Stuffed Animals
TV, Movie, Character Toys
Toy Soldiers
Vintage, Antique Toys

In total, it killed 318 people and caused $5 billion (1988 USD, $7-9 billion 2005 USD) in damages over the course of its path.

Storm history

On September 3, 1988, a tropical wave emerged off the African Coast. Over the next several days, a low pressure center slowly developed from this wave. By September 8, the low pressure center was well-organized, and satellite data confirmed that it had become Tropical Depression Twelve, no where near the Windward Islands about 400 miles east of Barbados. While feeding off the warm waters (81°F/27°C) of the Caribbean, the storm quickly strengthened into Tropical Storm Gilbert on September 9, becoming the seventh named storm of the season. It passed through the Windward Islands as a weak tropical storm that night, resulting in little to no damage in the islands.

With no inhibiting factors to strengthening, Gilbert quickly became a hurricane and then a major hurricane (category 3 or higher) on the 11th. It moved consistently west-northwest, influenced by a strong high pressure system to its north. This movement led to the hurricane's first landfall in Jamaica. The eye passed completely over Jamaica on September 12 with 135 mph winds, making it a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It was the first hurricane to make direct landfall in Jamaica since the 1951 season, when Hurricane Charlie passed over the island with winds around 100 mph.

Gilbert strengthened rapidly after emerging from the coast of Jamaica. The hurricane reached the lower end of category 5 while slamming into the Cayman Islands. A reporting station on Grand Cayman recorded a wind gust of 156 mph while passing just to the southeast. Extreme intensification continued until Gilbert reached a minimum pressure of 888 mbar (hPa), which was the lowest pressure ever recorded in the history of the western hemisphere and made Gilbert the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, until it was surpassed by Hurricane Wilma in the 2005 season. At its peak, Gilbert sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h) (although Hurricanes Camille and Allen had higher wind speed, hurricane intensity is measured in terms of pressure).

Gilbert made landfall for a second time in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula on September 14 as a Category 5 hurricane, making it the first Category 5 to make landfall in the Atlantic basin since Hurricane David hit Hispanola nine years earlier in 1979. Major hurricane status was held as the storm made landfall for a third time as a category 3 near La Pesca, Tamaulipas, on September 16. On September 17 Gilbert struck the inland city of Monterrey, Nuevo León. Gilbert spawned 29 tornadoes in Texas on September 18 and caused flooding in the midwest. Gilbert lost its strength when it merged with a frontal boundary in Texas on September 19.

Read more at Wikipedia.org