Hurricane Andrew hit Florida at its worse, with a straight minute of continuous 165 mph winds. It destroyed over 63,500 houses, damaged another 124,000, and cost about $27 billion in damage. Up until this point, Hurricane Andrew was the most costly hurricane in the U.S, eventually preceded by 6 hurricanes, including Hurricane Katrina and Harvey. 65 people were killed, while over 400 were injured. In addition to the hurricane itself, a few tornadoes caused by the hurricane damaged Louisiana considerably.Many of the victims of the disaster still remember it to this day. Most that were interviewed years later can still recall exactly what was happening and what they were doing when it hit. Some were luckier than others. One Florida resident recalled having finished moving to a new house the night before it hit. After the hurricane, he visited his old house to discover it was all gone except a toilet. The effects weren't only short-term, as there was extensive divorce rates and PTSD cases. There were also a few homicide and suicide cases.
Following the disaster, help came from many sources. In the Bahamas, aid from the UK arrived, alongside donations from the American Red Cross, Canada, Japan, the U.S, and the UN. President George H.W. Bush proposed an aid package to small business loans, food stamp, and housing, which was eventually passed for $11.1 billion. Over $9 billion was sent to Florida. In the end, the majority of homes that were destroyed were rebuilt.
Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20161204162542/http://www.sptimes.com/2002/webspecials02/andrew/day1/story1.shtml
https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/26/us/hurricane-andrew-down-to-the-basics-hunting-for-food-water-and-shelter.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffir%E2%80%93Simpson_scale#Category_5
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cUFWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XeoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5502,3697034&dq=lawton+chiles+hurricane&hl=en
This natural disaster was such a tragic part of our country's history. We are lucky that our government had the ability to get aid from other countries to help citizens in the United States. I did some more research about natural disasters that occurred in the 90s. Beginning in March 1990, a series of unusual tornadoes broke out in the U.S. A total of 59 tornadoes occurred in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas, with 44 of them occurring in Kansas and Nebraska. Few tornadoes in our history are comparable to that of 1990, including ones in 1880 and 1913.
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