THE EDITOR, Sir:
PASSAGE OF the recent hurricane called Ivan brought destruction, dispossession and distress to many people in Jamaica and elsewhere.
Those anguished people who lost belongings and/or loved ones ought to shudder at the thought that other hurricanes are very likely to come at times in the future. It is indeed possible for another hurricane to hit Jamaica next year or worse, once again this year 2004.
It all happened before. Records show that a hurricane hit Jamaica on August 12, 1915. Another hurricane lashed the island less than two months later, on September 25. The following year, 1916, a hurricane again ravaged Jamaica on August 15.
As if the island hadn't been sufficiently devastated by hurricanes, yet another one struck Jamaica on September 23, 1917. Four hurricanes in two years! Right on the heels of the recent hurricane, Ivan, came reports of other emerging, rampaging hurricanes moving in diverse directions.
Jamaica has a history of having been bypassed by hurricanes. However, we may not always be lucky enough to escape all of them for many years, as seen by the passage of Hurricane Ivan a few weeks ago.
I am, etc.,
SYLVESTER AYRE, J.P.
Sligoville P.O.
St. Catherine
