Hurricane Andrew
Overall, Andrew caused about $25.3 billion in damage in Florida, making it the costliest hurricane to hit the state at the time. Some estimates in Florida put the damage as high as $32 billion (1992 USD, $  USD). Almost all of the damage in Florida was caused by strong winds. Of the 44 deaths attributed to the storm, 15 were direct fatalities, while 29 were indirectly caused by the storm. It was later noted that if Andrew had been slightly larger or had made landfall a few miles further north, it would have significantly affected Miami and Fort Lauderdale, which would have resulted in an even higher damage and death toll. An analysis by the American Meteorological Society indicated that unlike most hurricanes, wind damage from Andrew was mostly north of the geometric center and occurred primarily on the eastern edge of the storm. Some officials in Florida considered Andrew the worst storm in the state since the Labor Day hurricane in 1935. The storm surge from Andrew caused more than $500 million in losses to boats and buildings. At the height of the storm, more than 1.4 million people lost electricity and another 150,000 were without telephone service. It is estimated that throughout Florida, the storm damaged 101,241 homes and destroyed approximately 63,000 others – the vast majority in Dade County – with about 175,000 people rendered homeless. In addition to homes, the storm damaged or destroyed 82,000 businesses, of farmland, 31 public schools, 59 health facilities/hospitals, 9,500 traffic signals, of power lines, and 3,000 watermains. Approximately 20 million cubic yards (15 million m) of debris left by the storm were disposed of.
Effects of Hurricane Andrew in Florida
Outside of Collier, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties, rainfall totals remained below , though over of precipitation fell over a small portion of southern Lake Okeechobee. Winds in Lee County left sporadic power outages, uprooted trees, and damaged the roofs of some houses, though losses overall were fairly minor. Additionally, high winds resulted in the closure of the Cape Coral Bridge. Along the coast, the hurricane produced a storm tide of at Fort Myers Beach. Winds reached in Captiva. Abnormally high tides were observed as far north as Homosassa in Citrus County, which reported a storm surge of at least in height. At the Miccosukee Indian Reservation, the huts and trailers of the Miccosukee were severely damaged. A young girl at the reservation went missing and was not found until nine days later. In Glades County, the emergency operations center recorded a wind gust of . Twelve funnel clouds were reported in Highlands County, though they remained unconfirmed. Effects from the storm in Central Florida were limited to light rainfall and winds in a few counties. Brevard County reported elevated wind speeds, though winds were no more than at any of the locations. Precipitation of at least occurred as far north as Alachua County.