Hurricane Andrew Facts

Hurricanes are large, powerful tropical storms that originate over the moist, warm waters over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans close to the Equator. They consist of strong winds that spin inwards and upwards at speeds of 75 to 200 mph. These storms get their power and energy from evaporation of warm water from the oceans. The hurricanes that strike America originate as monsoon storms in Africa. As these storms grow bigger, they spiral out into the ocean and start moving towards America and the Islands of the Atlantic. Till date, a large number of hurricanes have hit America. Of them, hurricane Andrew was the second most powerful one. It was a category 5 hurricane that hit the coast of Florida in August 1992.

Origin

Similar to all other Atlantic hurricanes, Hurricane Andrew had its humble beginning in the form of a tropical wave, that assumed the shape of a strong tropical storm the next day. On its way to Florida where it caused maximum destruction, the storm dissipated a number of times. However, every time it reached favorable conditions to spawn into stronger winds. While moving between the Bahamas and Puerto Rico, the storm turned westward. It made landfall twice while moving across the Bahamas. However, it continued to move westward, and while crossing the Gulf Stream it picked up more power and became a Category 5 hurricane. It hit Florida on August 24, 1992 with winds having a speed of 165 mph, and pressure measuring 922 mbar. After having hit Florida, Hurricane Andrew continued westward and hit the coast of Louisiana on August 26 as a category 3 hurricane.

Damage

The hurricane caused immense damage to life and property in South Florida and Louisiana. It killed 26 people, of which 15 alone were in Dade County. About 600,000 homes and other buildings were damaged due to the strong winds, waves and heavy rains generated by the hurricane. This natural disaster rendered 150,000 to 250,000 people homeless. Much of South Florida's water and electricity establishments were destroyed, which left about 1.4 million people without the supply of electricity and drinking water. The offshore oil services were also badly hit.

Hurricane Andrew caused immense ecological damage as well. As it passed through the wetlands of Florida, it uprooted the Mangrove trees on about 70,000 acres of land in the Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park. It also destroyed almost one third of the coral reefs in the Biscayne National Park and 90% of the native pinelands in Dade County. Over 80% of the oyster reefs off the Louisiana coast were lost. Over 40 miles of sand was stripped off the barrier islands on the coast of Louisiana which left the old coastal marsh exposed. The hurricane killed almost 182 million fishes and threatened other marine life forms as it lowered the oxygen content in the water and increased its turbidity.

More Facts

• The hurricane originated on August 16, 1992 and dissipated by August 28, 1992.
• It was the most powerful hurricane to have hit South Florida in almost 30 years.
• With damages worth $40.7 billion, hurricane Andrew was a costly Atlantic hurricane, second only to Hurricane Katrina which caused damages worth $89.6 billion.
• Hurricane Andrew produced a 17-feet storm surge near the land fall point in Florida.
• It was the first named storm of the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season.
• Ground Zero was Homestead in Florida which suffered the maximum damage from this hurricane.
• Heavy claims led to the closure of a large number of insurance agencies in Florida. More than 30 of them were drained of a large amount of equity. As a result, new insurance agencies like the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund and the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association were formed by the Florida legislature.

Hurricane Andrew caused extensive damage to life and property in United States. However, the positive outcome of the disaster was that it made people more aware of the power and impact of hurricanes. In its bid to improve its preparedness for hurricanes, the building codes were revised in South Florida and now they are one of the toughest in the country.