Born in the Caribbean south of Jamaica, in October 1988, Mitch's winds reached 180 mph. They stayed at that level for 33 hours, the Atlantics fourth strongest hurricane ever. Massive rainfall caused floods and mudslides which killed 10,000 people in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador and destroyed thousands of homes, bridges and roads. One area of Central America received 72 inches of rain in 24 hours (twice the average yearly rain for the UK).