Weather For Dummies by John D. Cox

Weather For Dummies by John D. Cox

Author:John D. Cox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley Publishing, Inc.


Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew in 1992 was the most devastating hurricane to strike the United States. The vital statistics say a lot about the two big changes in the way hurricanes are affecting the U.S.

Better forecasts and warnings are saving many lives. While 53 people died, the death toll was much smaller than it would have been years ago.

But many more people are living in harm’s way — property damage came to about $30 billion. It was the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history.

Andrew came ashore the morning of August 24, south of Miami Beach, Florida. It took three hours to cross extreme southern Florida in the morning, completely levelling the town of Homestead. It continued west into the Gulf of Mexico, and two days later took a sharp northward turn into Louisiana.

Wind gusts were clocked at 175 miles per hour, but sustained winds measured 145 miles per hour, making Andrew a Category 4 hurricane. Its storm surge was 17 feet into Biscayne Bay. Unlike many hurricanes, Andrew caused more damage from its winds than its storm surge.

Andrew destroyed or damaged more than 200,000 homes and businesses. It left more than 160,000 people homeless. One million people in Florida and 1.7 million in Louisiana and Mississippi were evacuated from their homes.

For all its power and destruction, Andrew was a relatively small hurricane, its rainbands reaching out only 100 miles from the eye.

And forecasters say that if its track had been just a little different, things could have been far worse. Andrew’s eye passed about 25 miles south of Miami Beach. If Andrew had come ashore just 20 miles farther north, according to two estimates, property damage would have been more than $60 billion.



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