as a tropical storm, gilbert brought high winds and heavy rains to many of the eastern caribbean islands. in st. lucia heavy rains peaking at in castries resulted in flash flooding and mudslides, though no major structural damage was reported. at hewanorra international airport, a dam ruptured and flooded one of the runways. offshore, six fishermen went missing as gilbert approached the lesser antilles. banana crop losses from the storm in st. lucia reached $740,000, with guadeloupe, st. vincent, and dominica reporting similar damage. several mudslides were reported in dominica, though no damage resulted from them. roughly of rain fell in barbados, leading to flash floods and prompting officials to close schools and government offices. the u.s. virgin islands experienced widespread power outages and flooding, with many residents losing electricity for several days. damage was less severe in the nearby british virgin islands, where only some flooding and power outages took place. in puerto rico, dozens of small communities lost power and agricultural losses reached $200,000.