Three Decades After Marilyn, Forecasting and Emergency Preparedness Have Evolved in the USVI

This September, as the U.S. Virgin Islands approaches the 30th anniversary of Hurricane Marilyn and marks eight years since Irma and Maria devastated the territory, emergency officials and meteorologists say major strides have been made in hurricane forecasting, storm monitoring, and disaster preparedness.

According to official records from the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Marilyn struck the U.S. Virgin Islands between Sept. 15 and 16, 1995. The agency reported that the cyclone was a high-end Category 2 hurricane, nearly a Category 3 storm, at the time the hurricane hit the territory.

“Marilyn’s eye passed across the east end of St. Croix, where an amateur radio operator reported an unconfirmed wind gust of 127 mph around 5 p.m. AST Friday, Sept. 15, 1995,” according to a report from the NHC. “The eye then passed between St. Thomas and Culebra with the most devastating portion of the eyewall moving across the west part of St. Thomas.

Here, both storm surge and wind caused widespread destruction. The Automated Surface Observing System, located at the St. Thomas airport, recorded sustained winds of 104 mph with a maximum gust to 129 mph around midnight, Sept. 15-16. These are the strongest recorded winds associated with Marilyn,” the NHC report explained.