Effects of Hurricane Andrew in Florida
The effects of Hurricane Andrew in Florida proved to be at the time the costliest disaster in the state's history, as well as the then-costliest on record in the United States. Hurricane Andrew formed from a tropical wave on August 16, 1992 in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. It moved west-northwest and remained weak for several days due to strong wind shear. However, after curving westward on August 22, the storm rapidly intensified to reach peak winds of 175 mph (280 km/h). Following its passage through The Bahamas, Andrew made landfall near Homestead, Florida as a Category 5 hurricane on August 24. Eventually, Andrew struck southern Louisiana before it dissipated over the eastern United States on August 28.
List of major power outages
On August 24, Hurricane Andrew made landfall on Elliot Key. As it passed over the northern Florida Keys it downed 17 miles of power lines, breaking the wooden poles they were strung on, along a path that was in four feet of water, stretching from the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant southward to the upper Keys. The shallow depth prevented the use of large construction barge cranes for rebuilding the power pylons but the water was too deep for land-based construction vehicles. As a result, the Upper and Middle Keys were largely without power for several months as the Middle Keys Electric Co-op only had generating capacity for 10% of its demand. The power lines heading north to Miami were restored much more quickly, as they were strung along the side of US highway 1 on dry land. Key West power was in the process of decommissioning an end-of-life oil-fired plant and was able to restore 75% generating capacity for the lower keys in one day as there was no storm damage that far south. Key West power was in the process of converting to sourcing 100% of its electricity from the Turkey Point facility.