Andrew...16 Years Later

[SouthFLTropics]

I can't believe it has already been 16 years since I read this...I can remember it like it was yesterday.

ZCZC MIAWRKAP4 LOC
TTAA00 KNHC DDHHMM
BULLETIN
HURRICANE ANDREW ADVISORY NUMBER 28
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
11 AM EDT SUN AUG 23 1992

...DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE HEADING FOR SOUTH FLORIDA...

HURRICANE WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST
BAHAMAS.

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA
FROM VERO BEACH SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE FLORIDA KEYS TO THE DRY
TORTUGAS... AND A TROPICAL STORM WARNING AND HURRICANE WATCH IS IN
EFFECT NORTH OF VERO BEACH TO TITUSVILLE FLORIDA. ALSO... A
HURRICANE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA FROM
SOUTH OF BAYPORT... WHICH INCLUDES THE GREATER TAMPA AREA...TO NORTH
OF FLAMINGO.

ALL PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY...INCLUDING EVACUATIONS
ORDERED BY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS...SHOULD BE RUSHED TO
COMPLETION.

AT 11 AM EDT...1500Z...THE CENTER OF ANDREW WAS LOCATED NEAR
LATITUDE 25.4 NORTH...LONGITUDE 75.0 WEST OR ABOUT 330 MILES
...530 KM...EAST OF MIAMI FLORIDA.

ANDREW IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 16 MPH...26 KM/HR...AND THIS
MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. HURRICANE
CONDITIONS WILL SPREAD OVER THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS TODAY
...AND ON THE PRESENT COURSE SHOULD REACH THE SOUTHEAST COAST OF
FLORIDA IN THE PREDAWN HOURS ON MONDAY.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS NEAR 135 MPH...215 KM/HR. SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN STRENGTH ARE
LIKELY BEFORE LANDFALL. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO
30 MILES... 45 KM...FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS
EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 85 MILES...140 KM.

THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY THE AIRCRAFT WAS 930
MB...27.46 INCHES.

STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 10 TO 14 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDES ARE
POSSIBLE FOR SOME LOCATIONS IN THE NW BAHAMAS...WITH UP TO 18 FEET
POSSIBLE FOR THE NORTHWEST SIDE OF ELEUTHERA ISLAND. STORM SURGES
OF 7 TO 10 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDES ARE POSSIBLE FOR THE FLORIDA
COAST AND KEYS NEAR TO WHERE THE CENTER MAKES LANDFALL IN SOUTH
FLORIDA...WITH POSSIBLE HEIGHTS OF 9 TO 13 FEET IN BISCAYNE BAY.

REPEATING THE 11 AM EDT POSITION...25.4 N... 75.0 W. MOVEMENT TOWARD
...WEST NEAR 16 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...135 MPH.
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 930 MB.

AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER AT 2 PM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY
ISSUANCE AT 5 PM EDT.

MAYFIELD

[x-y-no]

Yep ... I was scrambling like a madman that morning ... helping neighbors move their boats, then securing my own. Then head to my parent's house to secure it and hunker down that evening.

Scary, scary experience.

[StormTracker]

Yeah, that's a very scary reminder seeing as though there could another Andrew-like feature on the horizon!!! Andrew took my hurricane-virginity! I remember going outside at about 12:30 a.m. and not hearing a sound(you could hear a pin drop)! Then at about 3-something in the morning it was on!!! I had always wanted to experience a hurricane>>>boy, did I ever!!! I don't wish to ever see another CAT5!!!

[CrazyC83]

I wonder if some people underestimated Andrew as the strength was (at the time) estimated to be lower than it actually was (before they learned more about flight-level winds in the late 1990s)? My guess is that Andrew was 150 kt at landfall, based on 162 kt flight-level winds (supporting 145 kt at the surface) at the last flight and that he was still strengthening rapidly.

[Clipper96]

Andrew was revised upward to a 150kt cat-5 a few years ago.

[Category 5]

I was only 2 when it happened, so I don't remember watching it, but the stories will always live on. What a horrific storm.

[Frank2]

Stormtracker,

Another Andrew-like feature on the horizon?

Not per the current waves out there, since disorganized 95L is likely to recurve, and, 94L looks to be Central-America bound...

Andrew was an intense tropical storm even when it was sheared northeast of Puerto Rico 3 or 4 days before striking Florida (recon found a 70kt MLC even without convection at that time), so, nothing out there today like that...

It's been 16 years since Andrew, and, glad it's behind me - that was a very nasty period of my life, and, hopefully I did learn some valuable lessons from that hurricane experience...

Still, it's been a very long, long, week here in Florida, and, hopefully some here now understand why I root for dissipation or recurve instead of something coming this way - many now face a long hard cleanup process due to flooding, at a time when many were already suffering financially, so, a very difficult situation for many...

Frank

[Frank2]

Oh - here's a photo of my rented house, taken 24 hours after Andrew (the inside looked even worse):

http://www.geocities.com/joan_warrior_i ... sor/andrew

the house was 3 miles north of Metro Zoo, so, it was under the northern eyewall - by God's providence, I realized it was totally necessary to evacuate to my sister's house in Palm Beach County the evening before, even though my house was considered "well inland" - evacuating probably saved my life (click on the picture to make it larger)...

And I wonder why I have gray hairs...

[decgirl66]

Wow. That is all I can say. I lived in central Fla at the time (Sanford), I can't imagine how scary it must have been to go through a Cat 5 storm like that!

[Frank2]

Yes, I felt sorry for all those who stayed behind for it - we drove down on Tuesday morning, and, we knew we were in trouble when we noticed that the green highway signs on the Florida Turnpike turned blank, south of the Tamiami Trail (SW 8 Street) exit, because the wind had blown the letters away...

Sadly, I was forced to return to my sister's house later that afternoon (my house being unliveable), and, remained there for the next two weeks, until relocating in Broward County...

To say it was a stressful experience is an understatement - very bad for everyone involved, and, again, even worse for those who stayed behind, though I did suffer a royal case of "survivors guilt" in the weeks to follow - from what I was told, that is unfortunately normal and to be expected in disaster situations like that (similar to those who worked in the World Trade Center, but, happened to be on vacation or had called in sick on 9/11)...

Three close friends of mine (who remained at home for Andrew) were being treated for Cancer at the time of the hurricane, and, all three passed away (3 weeks apart) just 11 months later, though I'm not sure their passing was directly related to the severe stress of Andrew during their illness, but, I'd say it was an indirect cause - unfortunately, my roommate at the time of Andrew took his own life last year, and, I know the changes after Andrew did not make his own life any easier in the years following that loss (he was physically handicapped).

As many learned after Katrina and 9/11, natural or man made disasters often cause pre-existing problems to get much worse - many prayers are still needed for all those affected by these disasters...

Frank

[Jinkers]

I'll never forget that nite, I lived in Homestead at the time, it was the scariest experience in my life, I never really got over it. I still don't really talk all that much about it. I'm always glad to see hurricanes 'go fish'

[Patrick99]

"SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN STRENGTH ARE
LIKELY BEFORE LANDFALL"

Yeah, that was a bit of an understatement. Andrew sure enjoyed his brief trip over the Gulfstream and into Biscayne Bay.

[DanKellFla]

I stayed up all night to watch it. I lived in Boca Raton at the time. Andrew was projected to go through Ft. Lauderdale. As we all know, it wiggled south a bit. So, I was spared. My power didn't even go off. I just watched the radar every 8 minutes on the weather channel. This little storm just kept on moving inland. I think I fell asleep around 3 AM. I knew it was going to be bad south of me, but what I woke up to was totally unexpected.