The Determinants of Residential Property Damage Caused by Hurricane Andrew
Journal article by Paul Fronstin, Alphonse G. Holtmann; Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 61, 1994
Journal Article Excerpt
The determinants of residential property damage caused by Hurricane Andrew. by Paul Fronstin , Alphonse G. Holtmann I. Introduction On the morning of August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew demolished the southeastern part of Florida. Hurricane Andrew was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history: fifteen deaths were directly attributable to the storm, 175,000 individuals were left homeless, 25,000 homes were completely destroyed, and another 100,000 were damaged. Over 7,800 business were affected, comprising 14 percent of Dade County's economy. Costs have been estimated at $20 billion in damages, $10 billion in cleanup, $15.5 billion in insurance claims, and $1.04 billion in agriculture loss. In comparison, preliminary estimates of costs from the recent California earthquake have reached $20 billion in damages and $5 billion in insurance claims. While both natural disasters cause widespread damage, the nature of the damage is different and affects private and public decision making differently.(1) The strength of a hurricane can be measured by its wind speed. In the strongest part of the storm sustained wind speeds were estimated to be above 133 miles per hour (mph).(2) Wind gusts reached over 175 mph in other areas, yet some of the most damaged areas were not in the strongest part of the storm. For example, a well known subdivision of homes named Country Walk only experienced sustained winds of 97 mph or less, with gusts reaching 127 mph, but all the homes were completely destroyed. Surprisingly, other subdivisions close to Country Walk were not as severely damaged: a subdivision just eight blocks south of Country Walk, and closer to the eye of the hurricane, had very few homes destroyed or severely damaged. A com... |
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