Hurricane+Andrew+(1992)

Homepage Hurricane Andrew (1992)

By: Melissa DePaola

= How Are Hurricanes Formed? =

Hurricanes are multiple tropical thunderstorms circulating around a large area of low pressure. Hurricanes are not classified as hurricanes until they reach 75 mph, before then they are considered tropical depression. A hurricane will continuously grow as long as it has a supply of warm moist air, but as it travels over cold air or land, the hurricane weakens or even dissipates.

Hurricane Andrew first started as a tropical depression over the Atlantic Ocean. He gained strength on August 17th, passing over a high pressure center near The Bahamas.

The storm grew as it passed over the Bahamas, gaining speed and on August 22nd, it reached hurricane strength. The affected areas were the Bahamas, Southern Florida, Louisiana and bits of other southern states. Andrew was a category 5 hurricane at its peak, having a total of 65 fatalities and 26.5 billion dollars in damage, the costliest hurricane at the time.

Not only did Andrew cause damage by his own power, but he also spawned at least 28 tornadoes in states like Alabama and Oklahoma.

How to Stay Safe In A Hurricane

Hurricanes can easily damage your homes and property. Things such as floods, falling trees and wires, breaking glass windows and doors and gas leaks are commonly caused by hurricanes. If you are at any risk of being harmed in your home or by anything around your home, you should leave immediately. Stock up on foods, medication, and water to last about a week or so, in case you lost power and certain places are not accessible. media type="custom" key="23220732"

Steps to stay safe in a hurricane:

1.) If you're in a danger zone, get out A lot of people will realize the danger and not evacuate when they are supposed to and end up getting hurt when they really didn't need to. If you think you are in a hazardous zone you need to leave.

2.) Stay inside If you are not in to much danger, stay in your home. At the time that is the only thing protecting you from the storm, but you have to make sure that you are in the lowest level of your home and not near any windows or glass doors.

3.) If you plan to stay put, be prepared If you stay in your house you will most likely be safe, but you will need things to eat and drink, in case something goes wrong and you cannot reach upper levels of your home. Try to keep a weeks worth of non-perishable foods and water for your entire family, lights and medication all in the lower level of your home where yo u plan to stay.

4.) Be careful about what you eat

During the hurricane you refrigerator could possibly lose electricity and the food inside will only last so long. To maximize the duration of your foods, turn

settings all the way to "coldest", so that if the fridge itself loses power the food will last a bit longer. your refrigerator 5.) Make sure everyday items do not become dangerous The high speed winds could easily break a window and make ordinary things in your household become extremely dangerous. Make sure you take all loose/light items and put them all together in one spot so they are less likely to fly around and end up damaging parts of your home or someone inside.

6.) Try to find a generator, and when you do use it wisely Try not to use your generator to charge unnecessary items like phones or laptops unless you are absolutely sure that you have battery powered lights or everything is charged beforehand. If you waste your generator chances are you could be going days without any source of power at all.

7.) Listen to those who have been through hurricanes before Many people in your community may have experienced hurricanes in other areas and could have advice or things to help you and your family make it through the hurricane. The best thing to do would to be follow their instructions and get what you need from them to prepare.

The Effects of Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew was a very powerful hurricane that destroyed over 730,000 homes in Florida, and was the costliest natural disaster they h ave had to fix in the states history. Because of the destruction of Andrew, crime rates went up 50% two days after it ended, m ostly because of looting. Most areas were considered a disaster area and had multiple relief centers set up around different counties. There were many insurance claims filed and multiple insurance companies ended up going bankrupt or losing mo st of their surpluses.

Works Cited: August&, early. "Hurricane Andrew - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia."Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2013. 

"Effects of Hurricane Andrew in Florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia."Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2013. 

"Hurricane Andrew 1992." NOAA Public, Constituent and Intergovernmental Affairs - HOME. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2013. 

"Remembering Hurricane Andrew : Image of the Day." NASA Earth Observatory : Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2013. .