On August 14, 1992, a low-pressure weather system materialized off the
coast of Africa. At first, there was nothing to distinguish this atmospheric
ripple from the dozens of others that form every summer in this region of
the world. But this one was different. Instead of dying out, this weather
system slowly gained strength. By August 16, 1992, it had grown into a
tropical depression. And the following day it was upgraded to a tropical
storm and given the name "Andrew."

Over the next week, Andrew meandered nonchalantly across the South
Atlantic. Then it suddenly picked up strength, gathered momentum, and
developed into a Category IV hurricane. On August 24, Hurricane Andrew
struck its first blow. It hit the Bahamas with 120-mile-per-hour winds,
leaving at least four people dead and thousands more homeless. After rav-
aging the islands, this powerful storm moved back out into the Atlantic
Ocean, where it proceeded to move along in a northwesterly direction. ¹

Early on August 24, Hurricane Andrew smacked into the U.S. coast-
line just thirty-five miles south of Miami, Florida. For several hours,
Andrew pummeled the areas of Homestead, Cutler Ridge, and South
Dade with 145- to 160-mile-per-hour winds and torrential rains. Andrew
moved at about eighteen miles per hour across the tip of southern Flor-
ida. Everything in the storm's path was either leveled or severely dis-
rupted. Gradually the storm moved back over open water in the Gulf of
Mexico. Yet Andrew had changed the face of south Florida, perhaps
forever ( The Big One 1992, 8). At least thirty people died, over 175,000
were left homeless, and about 1.5 million residents lost electrical power.
Several communities were severely damaged: for example, 65 to 75
percent of all the buildings in Homestead were obliterated. Overall, the
storm caused $20 billion in property damages in south Florida, making it

-87-