Overview:
Hurricane Andrew was a category five Atlantic storm that hit the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. The storm decimated much of Southern Florida and reconfigured the area.Most of the damage was caused by the strong winds that ripped off roofs and toppled cars. Hurricane Andrew destroyed over 25,000 homes which left 160,000 people homeless. Over a million people were evacuated from southern Florida overnight once the storm was deemed dangerous. The hurricane was hard to track due to these strong winds destroying the wind measuring devices. The wind would blow an object one mile from its original location. Hurricane Andrew became the second costliest storm in America.
Communication:
At first,only 15 deaths were reported and the number kept increasing as more victims were found.Most of these victims were elderly people, children, and people who had illnesses such as heart disease. Several days after, more people were reported missing by their families and people struggled to get food and power. Thus, the first 6000 troops and 1000 Marines were sent with blanket and water. Later reports showed that 65000 jobs were estimated to temporarily lost and the local economy lost 2.9 billion dollars in order to cover the services. More than 10 percentage of the residents in the affected area were forced to relocate, which also caused a housing shortage and high renting prices problems. It took more than two year for some of the residents to reform their houses; while others chose to never return to the area-causing the Dade County to lost 27 percent of its population. In addition, the storm caused 10 billion dollars in insured damages, which led to the bankruptcy of nine small insurance companies. Final report showed that the storm caused 61 deaths and an estimated 27 billion dollars in damage. This made Hurricane Andrew the second costliest hurricane on record.
Vulnerability:
The main aspect of Hurricane Andrew that contributed to the massive destruction was the high speed winds produced by the storm. The wind speed averaged over 150 miles per hour. The sheer wind speed could knock over trees, people, and even entire homes. The amount of debris being propelled through the air via the hurricane cause significant damage, injury, and death. The prevalence of mobile homes increased the amount of debris due to the ease of mobile home destruction via the strong winds; poorly constructed homes also contributed to the sheer amount of devastation and debris. The hurricane also sprouted off a few tornadoes, which increased the amount of destruction. While the areas most affected by Hurricane Andrew established a state of emergency and mandatory evacuations, the lacking ability of storm tracking technology led to most people only having about a day to pack and evacuate their homes. This led to a great deal of people fleeing to shelters or finding makeshift shelter; there were also a portion of people that refused to flee their homes. Therefore, a lot of people found themselves in the heart of the hurricane under trucks, inside sheds, and huddling in their homes.
Future Improvements:
Communities affected by hurricanes, like those affected by Hurricane Andrew, can use new strategies to prepare themselves for these kinds of storms. They can start by building sturdier, wind resistant housing. This can help prevent the damage caused by strong winds. This can be done by using stronger materials to support the building. The roof can be made through careful roof sheathing and framing to sustain heavy winds. The walls can then be supported through concrete reinforcements to hold them in place. This can prevent many from going homeless due to the stability of their home.
Communities can also use technology to their advantage to help prepare for storms. If storms are better predicted than people can prepare for them properly. Instead of using ground based wind measuring tools, the tools could be planted closer to the storm to get a more accurate measurement. This would give meteorologists a better idea of how strong the storm is before it hits the U.S. People would have more time than just one day to prepare their home for a category five storm.
Communities in hurricane zones could also stress better building codes for their residents. This would ensure that people are out of flood zones or too close to the ocean. These codes would also require people to build their homes up to code at the risk of being fined. If everyone’s home is fully adapt for hurricane conditions, a community would not suffer as much damage.
Implementation:
Money would be a potential barrier for some of these issues. If the government is requiring people to update their homes to code, it will require money on their part. Some people many not have the means to build their homes to withstand a hurricane. The government could provide a program for these people to help them pay for improvement. Whether it is a loan or a grant, the government can help ensure people’s safety by investing money in precautions before a storm.
Technology could also be a potential issue in predicting hurricanes. If the hurricane is too strong, the technology could be damaged by being too close to the storm. However, luckily, advancements in technology have allowed scientists to develop new techniques to predict storms. They use land, sea, and air based trackers to help manage the storms. These improvements can predict storms up to 72 hours in advance of when they are supposed to hit land.
Bibliography
“Hurricane Andrew.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Oct 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Andrew#Impact.
“List of Hurricane Andrew’s Victims, How They Died With PM-Hurricane Aftermath, Bjt.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 4 Sept. 1992, https://apnews.com/98bf59ecce8dd183a44bfac25ea35aaa.
“The 25th Anniversary of Hurricane Andrew.” Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, www.aoml.noaa.gov/keynotes/keynotes_0817_andrew25.html.
Victor, Daniel. “Hurricane Andrew: How The Times Reported the Destruction of 1992.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/us/hurricane-andrew-florida.html.