On this day in history, South Florida experienced one of the most devastating wake-up calls in modern weather history. Hurricane Andrew, small in size but monstrous in strength, struck the coast with Category 5 intensity on August 24, 1992. The storm made landfall near Homestead, Florida, in the early morning hours, unleashing chaos that would leave lasting scars on the landscape, economy, and memories of a generation.

How it Unfolded

• Born in the Atlantic on August 16, Andrew started as a quiet tropical depression.
• For days, it struggled against wind shear and dry air.
• Then on August 22, it found its stride—intensifying fast as it approached the Bahamas.
• By August 23, it reached Category 5, packing sustained winds of 175 mph.

After cutting through Eleuthera Island and the Berry Islands, Andrew roared across the Gulf Stream and struck Elliott Key, Florida, at 8:40 a.m. on August 24. Just 25 minutes later, it made its main landfall near Homestead. Winds hit 165 mph. Pressure dropped to 922 millibars. The storm bulldozed everything in its path.

The Damage

• 63,000 homes destroyed
• 175,000 people were left homeless
• $27.3 billion in damage (1992 dollars)
• 1.4 million without power
• Entire neighborhoods vanished, leaving only concrete slabs.

Andrew didn’t linger. It tore through South Florida in just four hours and entered the Gulf of Mexico. But the pain wasn’t over. On August 26, it hit Louisiana as a Category 3 hurricane, killing 17 and causing more than $1.5 billion in damage.

What made Andrew so deadly?

• It was compact, but ferocious.
• Wind, not water, was the primary destroyer.
• Many forecasts underestimated its strength and path.
• It intensified rapidly—faster than most models predicted at the time.

For meteorologists, Andrew was a pivotal moment. Lixion Avila, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center, watched Andrew’s eyewall pass over Miami. Wind gusts hit 163 mph outside the office. “Get ready—the monster is here,” someone shouted. It was a scene straight out of a disaster film.

But Andrew also changed the game:

• It forced a massive overhaul of building codes in Florida.
• It led to better emergency response systems.
• It sparked significant advancements in forecasting technology.
• And it ultimately led to the relocation of the National Hurricane Center to a more sturdy facility.

Despite the devastation, Florida’s death toll was relatively low—44 people. Why? Because over a million residents had to be evacuated. That massive movement saved lives.

Thirty-three years later, Andrew remains a brutal reminder of what nature can unleash and how prepared we need to be when it does.