BACKGROUND
Hurricane Andrew hit the Bahamas, the Southeast end of Florida and parts of Louisiana throughout its course of destruction. Andrew hit Florida in South Dade county on August 24, 1992. Overall he caused $300 billion worth in damages and a chuck of that money came from the destruction that he caused in Homestead, Florida. around $3 billion were lost when Homestead National Air Force Base had to be shut down, 1167 out of the 1176 mobile homes were completely destroyed and the picture on the left show that the only thing in that city that seemed to untouched was not left alone before being struck by lightening. Andrew apparently refused to leave until damage was consumed by every last thing standing. Upon people returning to their "homes" they were left without electricity, water and food. People had wait in lines for hours to receive their mail. They also waited in tremendous lines to get water and ice, people were even paying up to $50 for one bag of ice.
whereheavensmeet.com/andrew/gallery/frameset.htm
Hurricane Andrew began to form and was classified as a thunderstorm off of the coast of Western Africa on August 13, 1992. As the storm continued to move it began to grow in size becoming a tropical storm as of August 17 and then as the wind speeds continued to grow they hit 74mph which is grounds for being defined as a hurricane and receiving its given name. This declaration happened on the 22nd of August, 1992. Hurricane Andrew's path began in the Bahamas, then moved through Southern Florida and Louisiana, finally finished in Mississippi. Overall, Hurricane Andrew caused $30 billion worth in damages and was originally classified as a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane scale. This meaning he had wind speeds up to 155mph and was originally claimed as reaching 145mph. However, with today's technology Hurricane Andrew has been bumped up to a category 5 hurricane (the strongest one) because new research states that Andrew's wind speeds actually hit 165mph.
Hurricane Andrew's path
Picture taken in Homestead, Florida
Showing everyone just how fast those winds really were
Source:www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/English/history/andrew_1992_map.gif
source:weathersavvy.com/HurricaneAndrew2o.jpg
The Saffir-Simpson Scale is used to measure a hurricane's intensity by classifying it into one of 5 different categories and then the type of destruction it can and/or will cause. Hurricane Andrew was originally classified as a category 4 and then later switched to a 5 when today's advanced technology of a better mathematical model which tells us what the winds speeds reached. After hurricane Hunter they were able to use its data of surface winds to better determine the speeds that Andrew reached. This new data then discovered Andrew's surface winds reached 165mph versus the 145mph they had initially claimed. Andrew is one of only three hurricanes that have hit the United States to be classified as a category 5.
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
| Category | Winds | Effects |
|---|---|---|
| One | 74-95 mph | No real damage to building structures. Damage primarily to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery, and trees. Also, some coastal road flooding and minor pier damage |
| Two | 96-110 mph | Some roofing material, door, and window damage to buildings. Considerable damage to vegetation, mobile homes, and piers. Coastal and low-lying escape routes flood 2-4 hours before arrival of center. Small craft in unprotected anchorages break moorings. |
| Three | 111-130 mph | Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures. Mobile homes are destroyed. Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by floating debris. Terrain continuously lower than 5 feet ASL may be flooded inland 8 miles or more. |
| Four | 131-155 mph | More extensive curtainwall failures with some complete roof structure failure on small residences. Major erosion of beach. Major damage to lower floors of structures near the shore. Terrain continuously lower than 10 feet ASL may be flooded requiring massive evacuation of residential areas inland as far as 6 miles. |
| Five | greater than 155 mph | Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less than 15 feet ASL and within 500 yards of the shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5 to 10 miles of the shoreline may be required. |