Remembering Hurricane Andrew ~ 20 Years Later.

20 years ago today I went through Hurricane Andrew, 

a category 5 hurricane & the worst hurricane to hit the US at the time. 

Andrew was the first named storm of the season 

and only major hurricane to form in 1992. 

It made landfall in Homestead and devastated the area.

Until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, 

Andrew was the costliest natural disaster in United States history, 

causing an estimated $30 billion worth of damage.

Luckily it didn't hit Ft. Lauderdale with the force Miami endured.
I lived in Sunrise at the time and we rode it out in Coconut Creek/Pompano Beach area at my roommate's boyfriend's house. 
My college boyfriend from Texas Tech was visiting at the time, and he and some of my friends went to Lollapalooza the day before. I couldn't go because I couldn't get out of work. (Boo!) 
We had lots to get done, but got a late start due to everyone being tired from the concert.   

I remember being shocked at how insane the grocery store was, 

they ran out of carts so people used boxes. 

Bread, water, batteries, milk... gone, lines went all the way from the checkout through the aisles and snaked around the meat department at the back of the store.  

We had a hurricane party and stocked the bathtub with ice & alcohol. 

We listened to Brian Norcross the local weatherman 

who later became known as "the voice of Hurricane Andrew."

We drove down to Miami the next morning...  

...the damage was unimaginable.

 

 

Later that night, I went to work at Bennigan's and it was crazy busy!  

Everyone hit hard had come out to get air conditioning, food and drinks. 

Sad stories of people who had lost everything. 

 

We had families begging for bags of ice, & we tried to help out when we could. 

People waiting in long lines for propane.

It brought out the worst and best in people.  

Some people were fighting over ice, and some were handing out 

sandwiches and drinks out of the back of their car or volunteering.  

 

That was the craziest experience and it changed my view of hurricanes forever. 

Total fatalities: 65

After that I didn't take chances, if there was a chance it was coming, I wanted out!  

That is one of the reasons I don't miss living in Florida. 

(These images are not mine, but from the internet.  

I'm not sure I took many photos back then... I know shocker!)