@thi9elsp,
Best of luck to you, and stay safe....!
I am in Ft. Lauderdale. I have lived in South Florida for 50 years. I have been through so many hurricanes that I honestly can't remember them all. I think the hardest thing to convey to folks that are not familiar with them is that
not all hurricanes are created equal... I had been through several minor hurricanes as a kid, and never understood what all the hype was about
until Andrew.
I had both sisters and my father living directly in the path of Andrew at the time in South Miami. My sisters both had significant damage to their newer constructed concrete block homes. My father's 100 year old, heavy timber home that survived many hurricanes in the past was gone completely. Not damaged, GONE.... He survived by pulling up the floor boards and climbing down into the foundation. My sisters both put their kids into the bath tubs and pulled a mattress over them when their roofs started to come apart.
The obvious question that some of you may be asking is "why would you stay there knowing a major hurricane was coming?" The answer may sound naive, but nobody honestly had any idea how bad it could actually be. Florida had not experienced a hurricane as strong as Andrew for many decades. Hurricane Donna destroyed the Keys as a Category 4 in 1960, but prior to that, this heavy populated area had not seen a major storm. The population in South Florida had collectively let it's guard down, and the weather experts did not emphasize the danger nearly as adamantly as they could have.... Most of the population in South Florida at the time were folks relocated from up north. There were very few if any natives that had experienced such a storm. Bottom line is that Nobody in Florida was prepared for a Category 5 hurricane when Andrew hit, and nobody honestly understood how bad it could be. My fear is that this will happen again.... The weather experts and the media are doing a MUCH better job this time conveying the message.
I was lucky enough to be living in Ft. Lauderdale at the time Andrew hit. I can remember my impression of the devastation like it was yesterday. You never forget a sight like that for as long as you live. There was no phone service or power anywhere, so I drove down the following day to check on my family. My first significant memory was that there were no traffic lights or street signs left standing on the roadways. It was difficult to know where I was going on the turnpike because all of the familiar points of reference were gone. It has been described many times that it looked like a nuclear bomb had detonated.... I still believe that is the most accurate way to describe it. Every single building had extensive damage. 90% of the roofs on both homes and structures were gone. Only shells of concrete buildings were standing. Anything wood was gone....Mobile homes, gone... The few trees that did remain upright, had no leaves or branches except for a couple remaining on the downwind side. The debris field extended as far as I could see for miles down the turnpike. The beautiful green canopies of trees, well-manicured yards, and nice neighborhoods were gone. I only recognized the correct exit by a 10 story concrete hospital that was standing near the highway. I remember the outer walls were battered with marks where debris had hit, and the windows were all blown out. It looked like a bombed out building that you would see in Beirut, not Miami...
I had a big 4x4 truck at the time, and without it, the roads would have been impassible. I had to drive over and around so much debris and downed trees that I had to chainsaw my way through in some places. I finally found my father's street by locating a big piece of his red shingled roof a few blocks away. I was shocked and sickened to find nothing remaining but the foundation of his home. Folks were walking around like zombies, stunned from both the shock of the storm and the disbelief of what they were seeing with the devastation. It was as if a 50 mile wide EF-5 tornado had passed through. I recall seeing yachts as big as 100' grounded in places over 10 miles from the nearest marina. I also saw a wing of an F-4 jet on my sister's street which was 15 miles from the Homestead Air force base where it was once attached to the rest of the airplane.... It was one of the worst days of my life, and I would never wish that experience on anyone....
The relief effort came slow because of the extent of such unexpected catastrophic damage. It was months before the roads were reopened, and nearly a year before the major power grids were restored. Many neighborhoods hardest hit were gone completely and never rebuilt. Many insurance companies went bankrupt, and some folks were never repaid for damages. For many, it was a total loss.... Eerily enough, 25 years later, you can still see a few Florida pines growing in the Redlands near Florida City that only have branches on one side. Most folks have no idea why those trees look like that, but I do...
This storm scares me.... I hate that it has to hit anyone, but that fact is inevitable... Hopefully, the eye wall will remain away from land and weaken, but the reality is that it is not very likely. Even worse, the path it is projected to take will affect the entire length of the state to some degree. The word Catastrophic doesn't cover it.... I know we have many members here on AH.com who reside somewhere in Florida. Many more have friends or family here. It is crazy to think that this particular storm will likely affect us all to some extent. We need your prayers like never before... My thoughts and prayers will be with all of my fellow Floridians as well. Be safe, smart, and take this very seriously.
