Hurricane Andrew landfall - 5 AM August 24, 1992. 22 years ago today

Has it been that long?  Where were you? It was a defining moment for our South Dade Communities.  The Burger King World Headquarters (now Palmetto Bay Village Center) was one of the hardest struck areas.

Life changed forever.
Andrew came ashore near high tide with a near 17 foot storm tide on August 24, 1992.  Bye, bye Burger King World Headquarters in (pre) Palmetto Bay, one of the featured corporate victims of the storm. I recall the huge damage to the Datran Center and the inability to navigate back home immediately after the storm.

Stats:

• Andrew was born as a result of a tropical wave which moved off the west coast of Africa wave and passed south of the Cape Verde Islands (Cape  Verde Storms are often known as the most intense) 
• Andrew became a tropical storm on August 17, 1992 and became a hurricane on August 22.  It strengthened to a strong category 4 hurricane the next day. 
• The central pressure was 922 millibars at landfall in southern Miami-Dade County. 
• Andrew caused an estimated $25 billion in damage in Miami-Dade County. 
• Andrew moved northwest across the Gulf of Mexico to make a second landfall in Louisiana as a Category 3 storm on August 26. 
• Andrew directly caused 23 deaths in the U.S. and indirectly caused 38 more. 
• 25,524 homes were deemed destroyed 
• 101,241 homes were damaged. 
• And, as a lasting legacy of Hurricane Andrew, Windstorm Coverage was created, eventually bringing us Citizen’s. Homeowner’s insurance has never been the same.