How Hurricane Andrew Changed Florida

In August of 1992, Hurricane Andrew completely decimated South Florida. It was equally devastating and financially painful for thousands of residents in the storm’s path.

For one insurance insider, it was her very first Hurricane– “I remember seeing miles of roofs and debris on the side of the road. The insurance adjusters didn't have GPS back then. And they had maps, and a lot of the street signs were blown off. So, the people would paint their house number and the name of their street on their house.”

25,000 homes were obliterated by Andrew and 100,000 were severely damaged. The total damage was 26-27 billion dollars in Florida alone.

In a 2017 NPR interview, former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate reflected on how Hurricane Andrew altered the way companies insure against hurricane damage:

“Well, it nearly brought several insurers to the point of bankruptcy. And it forced the state of Florida into developing its own reinsurance fund to encourage and maintain insurance markets. Insurance companies began changing how they covered and how they structured for hurricanes. Andrew showed the follies of how we were building and how we were pricing insurance, that it wasn't sustainable. And we still battle annually with insurance companies who are both leaving and sometimes entering the market, but all based upon their exposures to the hurricane risk.”

- Craig Fugate, former FEMA Administrator on Hurricane Andrew.

In the interview, Fugate alludes to how Andrew exposed the incredible negligence in Florida’s construction practices. Indeed, the gales of Hurricane Andrew took the unwieldy 400 disparate local building codes that once governed Florida with it, and the Florida legislature replaced them with a uniform building code that is still in use and is continually updated, to this day.

The contemporary building code emphasizes construction meant to withstand hurricanes, including hurricane-proof windows with heavy-duty frames and laminated glass. FEMA estimates that these strict construction standards implemented since Andrew currently safeguard more than 890,000 structures from hurricane winds and 150,000 structures from floods.

Is your home built to code? If you want to determine how storm-ready your home is, contact a wind-mitigation expert and a licensed general contractor today.