8/21/2023 0 Comments Andrew hurricane track![]() The storm passed directly over Biscayne and Everglades national parks, knocking down or severely damaging mangrove trees on about 70,000 acres (28,329 ha) of wetlands. Perhaps the most dramatic effect of the storm’s passage through these wetlands was the major structural damage to trees caused by the strong winds. Hurricane Andrew also had a severe impact on the environment as it passed through the heart of the largest wetland in the United States-the Florida Everglades. However, more than 250,000 people were left homeless, 82,000 businesses were destroyed or damaged, and about 100,000 residents of south Dade County permanently left the area in Andrew’s wake. Thus a significant portion of the Floridian population in 1992 had little or no direct experience with Florida’s history of violent hurricanes, a fact that worried many forecasters at the time ( Rappaport 1993).Ĭonsidering the destruction caused by this hurricane and the inexperienced population, the direct loss of life (< 25) seems remarkably low. By 1992 the demographics of central and south Florida had changed with many residents relocated from areas in the Northeast and upper Midwest. In the 30 years preceding Hurricane Andrew, Florida experienced increased coastal and suburban development and population growth. ![]() Both affected Florida within weeks of each other in 1985. Furthermore, between 19 only two hurricanes of any significance affected the state: (1) Hurricane Elena, a category 3 that eventually made landfall in Mississippi, and (2) Hurricane Kate, a late season, borderline category 1–2 storm. Hurricane Donna (1960) had been the last major storm to pass directly over the south Florida peninsula. 2007).Īt the time, Hurricane Andrew was the first major hurricane to affect the Florida peninsula in more than 25 years. The storm’s central pressure (922 millibars) ranks as the fourth lowest on record for a hurricane at landfall in the United States ( Blake et al. A storm surge of about 17 feet (5.2 m) above sea level was recorded at Biscayne Bay, Florida, and about 9 feet (2.7 m) near Terrebonne Bay in south-central Louisiana ( Lovelace and McPherson 1998). Maximum sustained windspeeds of 141 miles per hour (227 kph), with gusts of 169 miles per hour (272 kph), were recorded on 24 August 1992 just before landfall in Florida. ![]() Hurricane Andrew hit southern Dade County, Florida, especially hard, with violent winds and storm surges characteristic of a category 5 hurricane. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina ($81 billion) surpassed Hurricane Andrew as the costliest natural disaster ( Blake et al. The National Weather Service estimated the damage at $26.5 billion, making Hurricane Andrew the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. Hurricane Andrew was a small and ferocious Cape Verde hurricane that wrought unprecedented economic devastation along a path through the northwestern Bahamas, southern Florida peninsula, and south-central Louisiana ( Rappaport 1993).
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