Dear Editor,

Many Jamaicans, like myself, don’t remember what took place in 1988 because they were probably too young. But hard-hitting Gilbert destroyed many business places, homes, schools, and churches, leaving Jamaica battling to recover years after its passing.

I was only a toddler, hence I can barely give an account of the damage the storm left in my community. One thing I remember for sure is that on that fine morning I was well dressed in my khaki pants and shirt on my way to school but was saved by a good neighbour who shouted at me and my brother to turn back. “Yu ma nuh si storm a come?” he asked. In those days children were raised by the community; hence, I couldn’t even open my mouth to answer. I just had to turn back and tell my mother that so and so sent me back home.

Many who didn’t witness Gilbert will say Melissa is the storm of the century, while others will say that Gilbert did more damage than Melissa. The debate will continue for years as to which storm was more powerful. But my neighbour, an elderly man in his early 60s, believes that Gilbert did more widespread damage than Melissa. I am sort of in agreement with him, in that Gilbert did a lot of damage mainly because there were more board structures and zinc roofs in those days. Jamaica’s housing system has evolved over the years and many people have built stronger structures than in the 1980s.

If we should switch both hurricanes and put Gilbert in 2025 and Melisa in 1988, the death toll in 1988 would be higher and there would be apocalyptic devastation throughout the entire island.

I am no expert in geography, I do not have a degree in natural disaster management, and I have no knowledge to give a textbook analysis of both systems. But living in the western part of the island and seeing and feeling the effects of Melissa is horrific, and there is no doubt Jamaica will take years to recover from this destruction, especially people living in St Elizabeth, Westmoreland and parts of St James, Hanover, Trelawny, and St Ann.

The power of the wind that passed through these parishes and the horror it left gave me anxiety and had me praying like Daniel in the lion’s den, asking God to have mercy on the island like a priest begging God on behalf of his congregation.

It is said that Melissa had the driest eye of any storm in history, making the outer bands more powerful than Gilbert. Driving on the roads and seeing in some areas where the sea completely covers the road, rivers blocking off entire communities, widespread landslides in parishes that didn’t get the brunt of the storm, and flooding in areas in Manchester where no such occurrence had ever been witnessed is why Melissa is far more dangerous than Gilbert. I also believe the death toll will be far higher.

It will take resilience, unity, prayers, and heart to recover, but one thing of which we can be assured is that if any country can bounce back, it’s Jamaica, land we love.

Rashford Dinham

rashford.dinham@gmail.com