Aftermath Hurricane Andrew

1 aftermath

1.1 bahamas
1.2 united states

1.2.1 florida
1.2.2 louisiana

aftermath

after season had ended, world meteorological organization s ra iv hurricane committee retired name andrew list of future names atlantic tropical cyclones , replaced alex. name andrew never used again atlantic hurricane.

bahamas

initially, bahamas national disaster coordinator believed foreign aid not required, shortly after storm, government of united kingdom began distributing blankets, food, ice, , water. hms cardiff, royal navy type 42 destroyer, operational guard ship @ time , assisted in relief operations in , around gregorytown area. in addition, assistance came canada, japan, , united states, united nations. american red cross delivered 100 tents, 100 rolls of plastic sheeting, , 1,000 cots. rebuilding began on hardest hit islands. however, trees , vegetation expected take years recover. despite reconstruction efforts , small number of resort lodgings affected (around 2%), officials expected 10%–20% decline in tourism. bahamian government, observing response mechanisms not sufficient, reformed national emergency , management agency.

united states

sign pointing in direction of relief camp in south florida

after assessing devastation in florida , louisiana, u.s. president george h. w. bush proposed $7.1 billion aid package provide disaster benefits, small-business loans, agricultural recovery, food stamps, , public housing victims of hurricane andrew. after house of representatives appropriated aid victims of hurricane iniki in hawaii , typhoon omar in guam, cost later increased $11.1 billion. bill, costly disaster aid package @ time, passed congress house resolution 5620 on september 18, , signed law president bush on september 23. state of florida alone received $9 billion through disaster relief bill.

the federal emergency management agency (fema) criticized slow response in both florida , louisiana. month prior andrew, house committee on appropriations – oversees budget fema – released report calling agency political dumping ground , turkey farm due weak, inexperienced leaders . congressman s. william green of new york, member of appropriations committee, stated believed agency learned little botched response hurricane hugo in 1989. however, green criticized local officials expecting them [fema] come , run whole show . fema officials responded impossible respond had been requested while continuing provide aid los angeles riots. fema spokesman grant peterson stated, 24 hours not reasonable expect have resources of federal government landing in middle of disaster.

florida

in florida, president bush assessed damage in areas south of miami florida governor lawton chiles. president declared region disaster area, provided public assistance victims of storm in broward, collier, dade, , monroe counties. lieutenant governor buddy mackay flew on impact area , described scene looking war zone . governor chiles considered asking florida state legislature raise taxes, stating no matter how congress appropriates repair damage hurricane andrew, state face substantial cleanup bill . instead of raising taxes, chiles signed bill law on december 17 created three-year reserve fund losses uninsured businesses , homes, government , school buildings , functions. additionally, bill allowed south floridians keep estimated $500 million in sales tax generated rebuilding efforts.

clean-up after hurricane andrew in dade county

crime, looting , theft, rose sharply in areas south of miami after andrew. reports indicate merchandise stolen @ damaged or destroyed shopping centers in southern dade county. additionally, looting occurred in neighborhoods severely affected storm, in homes few possessions remained. initially, slow response of federal aid prompted dade county emergency management director kate hale famously exclaim @ nationally televised news conference, in hell cavalry on one? keep saying re going supplies. god s sake, they? immediately, president bush promised, on way, , mobile kitchens, food, , tents, along on 20,000 units florida army national guard (124th infantry regiment florida); 24th infantry division fort stewart, 82nd airborne division in fort bragg, , 10th mountain division fort drum. in order provide temporary housing homeless, military personnel set total of 5 tent cities in florida city , homestead, while sixth tent city opened @ miccosukee indian reservation shortly after labor day weekend. government of canada dispatched team 90 military engineers repair community centers, hospitals, , schools. additionally, crew of 300 military personnel sent miami via hmcs protecteur assist american relief teams.

the storm struck florida in midst of 1992 presidential election campaign. poll conducted cbs news in september showed 65% of dade county residents approved of bush s handling of disaster, while 61% of residents approved statewide. despite support of bush s response , proposal rebuild homestead air force base, benefited little politically , trailed 48%–42% against bill clinton in poll taken in september. additionally, 75% of voters in dade county , 82% of floridians overall stated president s actions in response andrew not impact vote in november. bush went on carry state of florida, margin of 1.89%. hurricane impacted governor chiles politically. state s response storm perceived poor, sinking chiles approval rating 22%, while disapproval rating rose 76%. however, chiles able recover prior 1994 gubernatorial election.

in aftermath of storm, extensive psychological effects documented. difficulty during clean-up , recovery lead increased divorce rates , spike in posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd). cases of ptsd impacted children. sampling of 378 adolescents university of south carolina s department of epidemiology , biostatistics indicated 3% of males , 9% of females met criteria ptsd. dozens of children in area attempted suicide, while counselors reported between 50 , 60 children discussed killing between december 1992 , january 1993. panel of psychiatrists , psychologists @ university of miami agreed many 90% of residents in worst impacted areas experience @ least few symptoms of ptsd. within 6 months, circumstances related aftermath of andrew led @ least 5 suicides , 4 homicides.

a home destroyed storm

although proposals rebuild homestead air force base rejected, united states department of defense expended on $100 million begin repairs. unsalvageable buildings demolished. reconstruction began on florida air national guard tower, air traffic control tower, , maintenance hangars. next, rebuilding of communications, medical, security facility, vehicle maintenance, , wing headquarters buildings began. on march 5, 1994, base reopened homestead air reserve base. prior andrew, base employed approximately 6,500 military personnel , 1,000 civilians , annually added $450 million local economy. after reopening, major bobby d angelo expected base annually contribute less half of – between $180 million , $200 million. city of homestead spent $6 million on rebuilding homestead sports complex. despite this, cleveland indians, fearing relocation of more affluent fans, moved spring training location chain of lakes park in winter haven. homes being rebuilt, fema provided free temporary mobile homes 3,501 families , financial assistance more 40,000 other families staying in hotel rooms, paying rent, , repairing homes. 2 years after andrew, 70% of homes in homestead damaged or destroyed repaired or rebuilt. additionally, of homes destroyed or severely damaged throughout dade county, 36,000 had been restored july 1994.

more 930,000 policyholders in south florida lost coverage after 11 insurance companies went bankrupt, caused more 600,000 insurance claims filed. led florida legislature create new entities, such joint underwriting association, florida windstorm underwriting association, , florida hurricane catastrophe fund, in effort restore adequate insurance capacity. stricter building codes created in florida in aftermath of hurricane andrew. survey tim marshall , richard herzog of haag engineer company in carrollton, texas, highlighted several construction issues. on roof of homes, concrete tiles glued felt paper, ripped straight line winds. @ houses shingled roofs, found of shingles stapled perpendicular long axis, allowing them torn away. after tiles or shingles peeled off, plywood , prefabricated trusses exposed weather. eventually, plywood , trusses suffered structural failure, leading roof collapses.

tent cities constructed house displaced residents.

in july 1996, governor chiles established florida building codes study commission, purpose of assessing building codes @ time, enacting improvements , reform system. commission study indicated building codes , regulations developed, amended, , administered on 400 local jurisdictions , state agencies. florida building code established in 1998 , put effect 2002. phased out local laws , regulations , replaced them universal statewide building codes. after hurricanes charley, frances, ivan, , jeanne in 2004, study conducted university of florida in following year noted homes built under new florida building code became effective in 2002 sustained less damage on average built between 1994 , 2001. report florida legislature in 2006 after hurricanes dennis, katrina, , wilma in 2005 came similar conclusion, indicating added further evidence florida building code working.

the hurricane transformed demographics of dade county. migration of white families northward broward , palm beach county ongoing, accelerated after andrew. many of these families had used money received insurance claims relocate. population growth noticeable in southwestern broward county, land development pushed years ahead of schedule . similar migration occurred within jewish community. although there areas of dade county still have significant jewish populations, many jews resettled coral springs, west fort lauderdale, hallandale beach, plantation, , tamarac in broward county , boca raton , west palm beach in palm beach county. county had net loss of 36,000 people in 1992, while broward , palm beach counties gained 17,000 , 2,300 dade county residents, respectively. 2001, 230,710 people had moved dade county broward county, while 29,125 dade county residents had moved palm beach county. however, broward county became more crowded, 100,871 people relocated broward county palm beach county. consequently, hispanic population in south dade county climbed rapidly. in homestead, example, latino population increased 30% 45% between 1990 , 2000.

during storm, facility housing burmese pythons destroyed, allowing many of them escape everglades. although burmese pythons – native southeast asia – had been sighted in everglades national park since 1980s, destruction of facility contributed establishment of breeding populations in florida. due rapid reproduction , ability prey on many species, population of burmese pythons exploded, possibly many 300,000 in everglades alone. efforts have been made curb thriving population of these invasive snakes, including ban on importation of species united states since january 2012 , increased regulations on ownership of boa constrictor or python.

louisiana

on august 26, george h. w. bush toured devastated areas of louisiana governor edwin edwards. president bush remarked, destruction storm goes beyond have known in recent years, noted damage less severe in florida. after visit louisiana, president bush declared terrebonne parish disaster area, later included 34 other parishes under declaration. fema opened 5 field offices throughout louisiana. these centers allowed residents submit applications aid. after franklin mayor sam jones , congressman billy tauzin criticized fema failing open field office in franklin, fema promised so. in first few days following storm, louisiana national guard members , local residents worked remove debris such downed trees, roofing shingles, , torn aluminum siding. state national guard dispatched water purification units , tanks filled potable water. 1,300 national guardsmen deployed southern louisiana.

in september, officials announced 1,400 mobile homes, homes, , apartments become available residents dwellings became uninhabitable. house resolution 5620 included disaster aid state of louisiana. in december, small business administration (sba) approved $33.2 million worth of low-interest loans repairs homes , businesses. then, fema had received 43,600 applications aid, while approving $35.9 million in grants on 18,000 households ineligible loans sba or uninsured. in addition mobile homes provided, fema spent $22.6 million on disaster housing.