Hurricane Andrew: The Worst Hurricane

On Friday evening, September 7, 1900, many of the 37,000 residents of Galveston, Texas, were settling down to dinner, few if any of them concerned about the steady 15 mph northerly wind rattling their windows. Within 48 hours, at least 8,000 of the townspeople would be dead, victims of the single worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Relatively few people are aware that the deadliest natural disaster in the United States was the hurricane that struck Galveston Island on September 8, 1900. One of the best resources that can be found to help fully understand the significance of this storm is Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson.

In the history of the United States of America, Hurricane Katrina was known as one of the worst hurricanes in the world. The hurricane was a combination of tropical waters and gushing winds. It was the vicious hurricane that caused severe damage to the citizens of the United States of America. The amazing city known for its southern style, Cajun cuisines, jazz music and its celebration of Mardi Gras will never be the same. New Orleans, Louisiana was changed forever in August 2005 when this category five hurricane left the city devastated. The catastrophic storm tore through the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas destroying everything in its path and killing hundreds of people.

In 1992, Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida destructing thousands upon thousands of homes, killing people, leaving south Florida completely destroyed. The aftermath of Hurricane Andrew took roughly two weeks until people started

When many think of the worst hurricanes in the united states they think of hurricane katrina and that's what many believe but that sadly is incorrect .On September 8th in 1900 a casual saturday morning one of the most horrific hurricanes struck its way into galveston texas in which is referred to as “The Great Hurricane Galveston”. The great Hurricane Galveston is one of the most deadliest natural disasters in american history. It happened to kill between 6 and 12,000 people. It was a category 4 storm with winds up to 145 mph . The storm arose about 15 feet high within hours. This severe storm was situated about 9 feet above sea level ,numerous amounts of homes were desto about 3,600 buildings were destroyed.

Hurricane Andrew is a storm that destroyed South Florida, and the Bahamas, and ripped through Louisiana, costing as much as 26 billion dollars.

On August 29th, 2005 Hurricane Katrina, also known as Katrina, made landfall along the Gulf Coast. It hit states such as Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. As of today Hurricane Katrina is one the most destructive hurricanes to ever hit the United States. In total Katrina caused over one hundred billion dollars worth of damage. It left people homeless, starving, and in some cases dead. New Orleans, Louisiana was hit the hardest, “New Orleans will forever exist as two cities; the one that existed before that date, and the one after.” Even over a decade later, the effects of Hurricane Katrina can still be felt as the south continues to rebuild their lives and return to some normalcy.

During a storm, when the wind reaches over 75 miles per hour, tropical cyclones forms over either tropical or subtropical waters. Over the years, there has been over a handful of these hurricanes that have been both costly and deadly. It was between August 24th and the 26th of 1992, when the second costliest hurricane to take place in the United States of America history. The name of that expensive storm is called Hurricane Andrew. Hurricane Andrew affected the areas of the Bahamas, Louisiana, and South Florida.

Hurricane Katrina claimed over one thousand lives, giving it the title of 5th deadliest hurricane in the history of the United States. Hurricane Katrina was not only very deadly, but it was expensive. The bank-breaking storm racked up over one hundred billion dollars in damage, after reaching land on August 28, 2005, and would show no mercy for whatever stood in its path. The storm has forever impacted the American culture and will continue to do so as many areas have yet to completely recover.

There had been many hurricanes that have occurred in the United States but, Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes to ever hit. During this hurricane approximately 1,833 people died, due to flooding. Levees led to a heavy flooding, numerous people had been charged by the federal government. More than 1 million of them were homeless along

Florida’s list of natural disasters ranges from floods to wildfires. The most notable natural disaster that impacts Florida are Hurricanes. Hurricanes are powerful storms that can cause intense winds and massive damaging floods. One of the most famous hurricane to hit Florida was Hurricane Andrew. Compact in size Hurricane Andrew devastated southern Dade and Monroe counties. David Hickcox notes that “Andrew’s damage path was quite narrow; it appeared that a tornado had struck, rather than a hurricane” (par 8). Andrew is one of two category five hurricanes to ever hit Florida with winds reaching 145 mph (Williams and Duedall 42). Hurricane Andrew impact was felt in many ways such as environmentally, economically, and socially in Florida.

Landfall was destroyed during this storm. According to Samenow and Porter,“ The vicious storm is next to hit Florida’s coast hard, with a combination of destructive winds and a devastating storm surge. Winds in excess of 100 mph could batter numerous population centers along

“The sound of the wind, that’s what you never forget. The initial whisper. The growing mewing that turns into a howl. Then they cry of glass shattering. The grumbling of a roof peeling apart”, said Ana Veciana-Suarez, as she remembers one of the worst, fiercest, and most powerful storm to hit South Florida, Hurricane Andrew. On August 24, 1992, Category 5 Hurricane Andrew came through and devastated South Florida turning its full forces on Miami-Dade county. The aftermath of this hurricane was completely unbelievable and devastating, being that it was the most high-priced storm ever recorded in United States History. Rebuilding the community took several years and even after everything was rebuilt, citizens of South Florida, would never forget Hurricane Andrew.

In 1990, the galveston hurricane occurred. It was one of america’s deadliest natural disasters. It all started on august 27th, with very high winds coming from the tropical atlantic. On september 3rd, it reached cuba, cuba then had heavy rain. U.S weather bureau ignored the reports from cuban meteorologist because they expected the storm to move to the northeast along the U.S east and then exit to the atlantic. They were wrong the region of high pressure pushed the storm west to the gulf of mexico. The tides kept getting closer to the inland and the winds increased. It ended on september 17, with buildings destroyed. No one really knew it was gonna be that bad but it destroyed a lot of galveston. This disaster killed 6,000 to 8,000+. The

Hurricane Katrina shocked millions of people in the world, but especially in Louisiana and Florida on August 29, 2005 (Elliot). New Orleans was hit the worst with about 1,800 dead and thousands of others had no home to go to after the disaster (Zimmermann). Katrina is the sixth strongest hurricane in the Atlantic and also referred to as the deadliest (Elliot)(Zimmermann). It was named Katrina after being found about 200 miles off the coast of the Bahamas with winds of 40 miles per hour, but soon made its way toward Louisiana (Zimmermann). It devastated thousands of people in many different ways.

Hurricane Katrina was the most catastrophic of the 2 other hurricanes. Hurricane Matthew was one of the smallest hurricanes of the 3 because it only costed $8.16 billion compared to $25.6 billion and $108 billion, though the size of hurricane Matthew was a little larger than Andrew it was still smaller than katrina. The Wind speeds of katrina was the smallest of the 3 and Matthew had the largest wind speeds. Hurricane Andrew had the smallest amount deaths and katrina had the most. Hurricane Andrew lasted the longest of 12 days and Katrina was 9 and Matthew was 11 days. All 3 hurricanes were a category 5 hurricane.