Beryl takes aim at Jamaica; here’s a look at the country’s hurricane history
Jamaica is no stranger to hurricanes, but it has been 12 years since the island has seen major damage from a storm.
Alex DaSilva explains the catastrophic flooding, widespread power outages and damage to structures expected from Hurricane Beryl when it reaches Jamaica.
Record-breaking Hurricane Beryl is barreling toward the island nation of Jamaica with an expected landfall on Wednesday. Jamaica has been affected by many hurricanes over the last 175 years, but the last storm to do significant damage was nearly 12 years ago.
That storm was Hurricane Sandy, a Category 1 hurricane that took an unusual track northward through eastern Jamaica in 2012. Sandy caused $100 million USD in damage in Jamaica and killed three people. It later caused massive flooding in the Northeast United States.
Another major storm to impact Jamaica was Hurricane Dean in 2007. The Category 4 storm did not make landfall but passed close enough to Jamaica to kill one person and cause $300 million USD in damage there.
Three years before that, Hurricane Ivan took a similar track to Dean, devastating the island, killing 17 people and causing $360 USD million in damage on the island.
Debris left by Hurricane Dean is seen 20 August 2007 in Kingston, Jamaica. Hurricane Dean crept into the northwestern Caribbean Sea early Monday after unleashing its fury on Jamaica, prompting its government to declare a state of emergency. The category four hurricane was whipping up giant surf and dumping inches of rain on the island. Roads were blocked by fallen trees and flooded in the eastern parts of the island, with power cuts affecting thousands of homes. (Photo by Anthony A FOSTER / AFP) (Photo by ANTHONY A FOSTER/AFP via Getty Images)
The worst storm to ever hit the island was Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. Gilbert was the strongest, deadliest, costliest and most destructive storm in Jamaica's history. It killed 45 people and caused $700 million in damage. Gilbert scraped the island from one end to the other, with the eyewall grinding through the capital city of Kingston, which had a population of just over 500,000 in 1988 but grew to 1.24 million by 2019 -- meaning many more people are at risk with Beryl than were during Gilbert.
Hurricanes that impact Jamaica generally hit between August and October. Only two storms, Hurricane Dennis and Hurricane Emily, have affected the island in July, back-to-back storms in the infamous 2005 hurricane season.
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