Guadeloupe's Soufriere erupts, killing 5,000 people there. Disastrous earthquakes rocked the Leewards following the eruption, with heavy damage to public buildings in Antigua. In Montserrat there were 6 deaths and many injuries. Only 3 of the 36 operating sugar works escaped serious damage (Webb's, Broderick's and Dagenham). Only a few buildings in Plymouth were completely destroyed, but almost all were damaged. All of the churches were unusable. Roads were buried, collapsed cliffs buried cottages and provision grounds [kitchen gardens -Bill] in the mountains.

The local Meteorological Office reported that Montserrat experienced winds of between 35-40 mph from the passage of Earl. Approximately 12 inches of rain, fell over a 24-hour period. Landslides, slippages, mudslides, fallen trees as well as downed utility poles and wires were reported. Flooding and blocking of small bridges and loss of roadways was also reported in some areas. Initial assessments of damage was EC $10M based on initial assessments of infrastructural damage.

Source: https://goo.gl/ohcRau

Hurricane Hugo impacted the Caribbean and Virgin Islands crossing Guadeloupe and St. Croix on September 17th and 18th as a category 4 hurricane. Hugo continued northwest and reached the island of Montserrat, several hours later. Although the eye of the hurricane missed Montserrat, Hugo was still producing sustained winds of 140 mph and pounded the island. Nearly every home on Montserrat was destroyed or heavily damaged, leaving 11,000 of the island’s 12,000 people homeless.