Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew was a compact but extremely powerful tropical cyclone that became the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged or destroyed and remained the costliest in financial terms until Hurricane Irma surpassed it 25 years later. Andrew was also the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States in decades and the costliest hurricane to strike anywhere in the country, until it was surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Andrew is one of only four tropical cyclones to make landfall in the continental United States as a Category 5, alongside the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, Hurricane Camille in 1969, and Michael in 2018. While the storm also caused major damage in The Bahamas and Louisiana, the greatest impact was felt in South Florida, where the storm made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane, with 1-minute sustained wind speeds as high as 165 mph (266 km/h) and gusts as high as 177 mph (285 km/h). Passing directly through the cities of Cutler Bay and Homestead in Dade County (now known as Miami-Dade County), the hurricane stripped many homes of all but their concrete foundations and caused catastrophic damage. In total, Andrew destroyed more than 63,500 houses, damaged more than 124,000 others, caused $27.3 billion in damage (equivalent to $65 billion in 2023), and left 65 people dead. Andrew began as a tropical depression over the eastern Atlantic Ocean on August 16. After spending a week without significantly strengthening itself in the central Atlantic, the storm rapidly intensified into a powerful Category 5 hurricane while moving westward towards The Bahamas on August 23. Though Andrew briefly weakened to Category 4 status while traversing The Bahamas, it regained Category 5 intensity before making landfall in Florida on Elliott Key and then Homestead on August 24. With...