HURRICANE ANDREW, 1992

My house, a few blocks from downtown Fort Lauderdale, survived Hurricane Andrew.  I escaped to the north the day before and returned before Andrew had entered the Gulf of Mexico on its way to Louisiana.  There was rain and storm surges with Andrew, but it is noted for its destructive wind crossing the state just south of Miami.  Some describe it as a twenty-five-mile-wide tornado flattening homes and stripping pine trees of their needles!

At the closest, this house was 60 miles north of the eyewall and experienced 70 MPH winds, down from the 155 MPH eyewall winds. A large Oak tree in the back survived but shed a lot of green leaves.

Florida Light & Power has two nuclear reactors as well as two oil fired units at their Turkey Point Power Station in Miami. Andrew passed directly over the site with no damage to the nuclear reactors. One stack of the oil plant was damaged and had to be taken down. Winds were estimated at 145 MPH with gusts to 175.

Forecasters have a tough job with severe weather. They must include all possibilities, even a small chance. If severe weather does not come to pass at your location, do not lose confidence in any forecast in the future. In our lifetimes we will experience many weather warnings and very few will come to pass at our exact location. If ninety-nine in a hundred turn out to be not severe, you do not want to be around for that one that is!

Andrew was a big, bad hurricane. It was a catastrophe and extreme weather event. Thousands of people were trapped in their homes as Andrew tore it apart over their heads. (Hiding in a closet or bathtub for hours!) Many personal stories of horror were written at the time. I flew a trip with a pilot who was trapped. His message was clear. Never again was he going to ride-out a hurricane! ​