Hurricane Gilbert: The storm of the century

Hurricane Gilbert has been labelled the storm of the century because of the many meteorological records it set. These include size, straightness of track, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, and total energy. After ravaging Jamaica as a Force 3 storm, Gilbert made landfall in Yucatan as a Force 5, one of only three hurricanes of such magnitude to do so in North America this century. In spite of a death toll of 318 and property damage in the billions of dollars, Gilbert's impacts were eclipsed by the extensive publicity that accompanied Hurricane Hugo's landfall in South Carolina the following year (1989).