It’s been 30 years since Hurricane Andrew pummeled Miami-Dade County with a blow so fierce it flattened a community, shredded homes and left the vivid imprint of a hurricane’s power.
Those who went through it will never forget it.
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It immediately became the storm of a lifetime and the yardstick by which all other storms are measured, not only in South Florida but around the nation.
And that’s only speaking to the damaging elements of this exceptional weather event.
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The physical and emotional toil of surviving Andrew are incomprehensible.
The swift approach of the storm, the preparation for the unknown, the howl of the wind all night long. Cumulative factors that peaked in a weather event so significant, it is worthy of revisiting decades later.
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If you weren't in south Dade that night, it's extremely difficult to imagine what individuals and families went through.
We can only imagine how scary and unnerving the screaming winds were, how unsettling a shaky house felt, what it was like when the wind took what it wanted in the cover of darkness.
Hurricane Andrew roared ashore in the early morning hours of August 24th, 1992 with winds so powerful, the gauges used to measure it were destroyed. The radar used to track it was toppled.
The community that sheltered from it woke to find a landscape so transformed, there was very little to illustrate the once-quaint neighborhoods.
In this unusually compact storm, Andrew's maximum winds of 165 mph sawed through southern Dade County that night, inflicting damage or total destruction of 155,000 homes while taking 44 lives. One-third of the estimated 45,000 boats registered in Dade County were damaged.
The severe winds from Andrew’s landfall were, without question, the calling card of this hurricane, rather than the storm surge.
For some, that meant the visual revelation that all they had left were soaked and tattered homes, shattered belongings, the clothes on their backs and only the lives to move forward with.
But among a horrific aftermath, a few building blocks for future progress were found.
Some of those pillars of light included better building codes for stronger homes, enhanced wind mitigation techniques and a better storm response. If anything, it established an undercurrent of preparation, being ready for the next one if ever it should come.
Andrew survivors have a unique story and experience. If you ever have a moment to hear a memory or two from someone who lived through it, listen. It may shape your outlook on dealing with hurricane season and especially how you prepare for any give storm threat.
It’s admittedly impossible for me to encapsulate the story of the many who navigated this historical storm. For some, they lost everything. For some, they moved away and started over. For all, they were damaged in some shape and carry this memory has part of their personal history.
I hope we never have another Andrew. But if we do, I certainly hope we will use the lessons gifted to us from those who went through it.
