LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Hurricane Andrew: Storm
built 217 days ago
No one knew on Saturday, August 22, 1992, that Hurricane Andrew would turn out to be the largest natural disaster in the nation’s history. No one could predict that it would supersede Hurricane Hugo as the costliest disaster ever and cause over five times the damage of that 1989 storm.
Source:
As Hurricane Andrew approached Louisiana, an isolated storm on one of Andrew's raindbands spawned a tornado that traveled west-northwestward through Laplace, Louisiana. The tornado damage path was 9 miles long and about 150 yards wide. The tornado was rated F3 on the Fujita damage scale. Damage to homes was more severe in the tornado than hurricane-caused damage to similarly constructed homes in Louisiana. The tornado lasted ten minutes beginning around 8:10pm.
Source:
On August 24, 1992 Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida. The storm had winds over 160 miles per hour and was the most costly disaster in the nation's history. The storm caused between 20 to 30 billion dollars in damge. In a few brief hours, the southern half of Dade County was changed forever. A total of thirty-eight people were killed by the storm, 80,000 homes were destroyed, and 225,000 people were left homeless.
Source:
Hurricane Andrew was catastrophic Category Five hurricane that devastated portions of the Bahamas, Southern Florida and Louisiana in August, 1992. A tropical wave moved off the west coast of Africa on August 14th, organizing into a Tropical Depression by the 16th. The depression moved west-northwest, and reached Tropical Storm strength on the 17th. Andrew intensified slightly before strong shear weakened the system. By the 20th, Andrew was barely of storm strength. Moving northwest, the system bypassed the Lesser Antilles, before slowing and turning back to the west.
Source:
![[IMAGE LINK]](http://retrieverimages.lycos.com/images/h/u/r/hurricane-andrew/i/001.gif)
The winds in Hurricane Andrew wreaked tremendous structural damage, particularly in southern Dade County. Notwithstanding, the loss of life in Hurricane Andrew, while very unfortunate, was far less than has previously occurred in hurricanes of comparable strength. Historical data suggests that storm surge is the greatest threat to life. Some lives were likely saved by the evacuation along the coastline of southeast Florida. The relatively small loss of life there serves as testimony to the success and importance of coordinated programs of hurricane preparedness.
Source:
Hurricane Andrew cut a ruinous course across South Florida on the 25th of Augest,1992, leaving thousands of people homeless, and then sailed into the Gulf of Mexico headed for a second landfall. Andrew flattened mobile homes, sheared roofs off houses and yanked trees from the ground with winds that gusted to 164 m.p.h. as it marched east to west across Florida. It nearly wiped the farming and retiree town of Homestead off the map. It left Miami neighborhoods in turmoil. In the end, Andrew was not as deadly a storm as some expected - there were at least 10 deaths in Florida - but it was the worst the state had seen in 60 years.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Storm