page_title: Hurricane Gilbert
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Gilbert / Impact / United States
caption_attribution_description: English: Damage inflicted when Hurricane Gilbert, known as the Storm of the Century, struck Kelly AFB, Texas.
context_page_description: Hurricane Gilbert was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season, peaked as a Category 5 strength hurricane that brought widespread destruction to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, and is tied with 1969's Hurricane Camille as the second-most intense tropical cyclone to make landfall in the Atlantic Ocean. Gilbert was also one of the largest tropical cyclones ever observed in the Atlantic basin. At one point, its tropical storm-force winds measured 575 mi in diameter. In addition, Gilbert was the most intense tropical cyclone in recorded history to strike Mexico. Gilbert is also the second most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Atlantic basin in terms of barometric pressure, only behind Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
  The seventh named storm and third hurricane of the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season, Gilbert developed from a tropical wave on September 8 while located 400 mi east of Barbados. Following intensification into a tropical storm the next day, Gilbert steadily strengthened as it tracked west-northwestward into the Caribbean Sea.
context_section_description: Despite concerns that Texas might suffer a direct hit, there was only minor damage reported in southern Texas from Gilbert's landfall 60 miles (97 km) to the south. Winds gusted to hurricane force in a few places, but the main impact felt in the state was from beach erosion caused by a 3-5-foot storm surge, and tornadoes, which mainly affected the San Antonio area. 29 tornadoes were spawned by Gilbert in Texas, at least two of which were killer tornadoes.  Estimates ranged from 30 to more than 60 hitting 25 Texas counties. Nine of them hit San Antonio, where a 59-year-old woman was killed as she slept in her mobile home. 40 tornadoes were spawned in an area from Corpus Christi and Brownsville north to San Antonio and west to Del Rio. In the state, a major disaster was declared on October 5, 1988.
  Oklahoma recorded the highest rainfall in the United States at 8.6 inches (220 mm), in Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Isolated locations in Texas and Oklahoma reported over 7 inches (180 mm), while moderate rainfall of up to 3 inches (76 mm) fell in central Michigan. Overall damage in the United States was estimated at $80 million (1988 USD).
caption: Damage at Kelly Air Force Base, Texas
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