1992 - Hurricane Andrew

A 'modern-day apocalypse'

Sun-Sentinel

The front page of the Sun-Sentinel August 25, 1992

For 27 years, South Florida had been spared a severe hurricane. Then Andrew arrived, the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history. Andrew wrecked more property than Hugo, Agnes and Betsy combined, with damages estimated at $25 billion. Twenty-three died.

Andrew was a small but ferocious storm that began its destruction by ripping through the Bahamas with 150 mph winds on Aug. 23, killing three people. The next day, Andrew crashed into Dade Country, flattening houses, toppling palm trees, and leaving thousands of residents homeless and panic-stricken.

Andrew was a category 4 hurricane with a central pressure of 922 millibars, the third lowest measured for a hurricane hitting the United States. (The most intense hit the Florida Keys in 1935; Camille ranks second.)

Andrew killed 15 people in Dade County and left up to one-quarter million people homeless. (The National Hurricane Center estimates another 25 people died as an indirect result of the storm.)

Andrew moved quickly over Florida, then out into the Gulf. As the storm approached Louisiana, more than 1.5 million people were evacuated. The hurricane struck a sparsely populated section of south-central Louisiana, but still took another eight lives.

Areas that didn't feel the wrath of the hurricane were terrorized by dozens of tornadoes spun off by Andrew. The tornadoes popped houses like balloons, scattering possessions into a communal hodgepodge. One Louisiana resident, Lucille Perrilloux, said her husband was injured when he was struck by a flying refrigerator.

"I don't know if it was my refrigerator or someone else's," she said.