Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane AndrewHurricanes are notoriously capricious. Andrew was a compact system. A little larger
system, or one making landfall just a few nautical miles further to the north, would have
been catastrophic for heavily populated, highly commercialized and no less vulnerable
areas to the north. That area includes downtown Miami, Miami Beach, Key Biscayne and
Fort Lauderdale. Andrew also left the highly vulnerable New Orleans region relatively
unscathed.
Andrew moved nearly due westward when over land and crossed the extreme
southern portion of the Florida peninsula in about four hours. Although the hurricane
weakened about one category on the during the transit over land, and the pressure rose to
about 950 mb, Andrew was still a major hurricane when its eyewall passed over the
extreme southwestern Florida coast. The first of two cycles of modest intensification
commenced when the eye reached the Gulf of Mexico. Also, the hurricane continued to
move at a relatively fast pace while its track gradually turned toward the west-northwest.
When Andrew reached the north-central Gulf of Mexico, the high pressure system to its
northeast weakened and a strong mid-latitude trough approached the area from the
northwest. Steering currents began to change. Andrew turned toward the northwest and
its forward speed decreased to about 8 kt. The hurricane struck a sparsely populated
section of the south-central Louisiana on the 26th. The landfall location is about 20 n mi
west-southwest of Morgan City.
Andrew dropped sufficient rain to cause local floods even though the hurricane
was relatively small and generally moved rather fast. Rainfall totals in excess of seven
inches were recorded in southeast Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Rainfall amounts
near five inches occurred in several neighboring states. Hammond, Louisiana reported the
highest total, 11.92 inches. The number of deaths directly attributed to Andrew is 26....
To view the complete essay, you be registered.