Three months after being warned by experts that the Atlantic Hurricane Season, starting June 1, was likely to be more active than normal, many among us have probably forgotten.

That’s because the season thus far has been very quiet, with only three named Atlantic storms. Experts are saying it’s the least active start to an Atlantic Hurricane Season in 30 years.

Yet, Jamaicans know from long, hard experience that there should be no complacency.

The deaths of two children in recent days, washed away while with their mother washing clothes on the banks of a swollen stream in St Mary, remind us that disaster will strike in the twinkling of an eye if we are not very careful.

Meteorologists cautioned on the weekend that Jamaicans should prepare for heavier than normal rain over the next few days. And, across the Atlantic, there is talk of “multiple areas of possible tropical development…” headed in the general direction of the Caribbean.

In the circumstances, Sunday’s story in this newspaper focusing on the threat to agriculture of hurricanes and floods is timely.

And, we are now almost into September, which is the traditional peak for Atlantic storms.

Older Jamaicans, and even those in their early 40s and late 30s, have reason to think of September with dread, because of Hurricane Gilbert which devastated this country in September 1988.

Spawned off the coast of Africa, the storm arrived at Morant Point in St Thomas, eastern Jamaica, in late morning, Monday, September 12, as a Category Three Hurricane. It tore through the centre of the island before exiting the west, in the evening.

Gilbert was said to be the first hurricane to make landfall here in 37 years — dating back to Hurricane Charley in 1951. The latter, which struck southern Jamaica as a low-end Category One storm, inspired Captain Sinbad’s 1979 Reggae classic 51 Storm.

We can say without hesitation that Hurricane Gilbert was the worst weather-related disaster in memory, for Jamaicans alive today. There were more than 40 deaths with damage to agriculture and infrastructure estimated at US$4 billion. Having flown over the island by helicopter after the storm, Jamaican Prime Minister Mr Edward Seaga likened what he saw to the Japanese city of Hiroshima following the detonation of an atom bomb by the Americans at the tail end of World War Two.

Gilbert’s death toll may well have been much higher had it hit Jamaica after dark.

Blunted by the mountainous terrain, the storm weakened as it crossed the island. But on entering the warm waters of the north-western Caribbean it regained strength with incredible speed to batter the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico as a Category Five Hurricane.

It’s incumbent on those who experienced Gilbert, and other storms, to tell the younger ones among us so they can prepare. Clearing drains in homes and communities, pruning trees that may be too close for comfort, securing roofs, doors, windows, and storing non-perishable food, are actions we can all take.

Hopefully, too, the local authorities are ensuring regular cleaning of community drains, the securing and organising of designated shelters, and other safety measures.

The dreaded disaster may not come. But let’s prepare for the worst.