Hurricane Andrew
Though Andrew was a small tropical cyclone for most of its lifespan, it caused extreme damage, especially in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. The vast majority of the damage was as a result of extremely high winds, although a few tornadoes spawned by Andrew caused considerable damage in Louisiana. Throughout the areas affected, almost 177,000 people were left homeless. Outside of the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana, effects were widespread, although damage was minimal. Overall, $27.3 billion in losses and 65 fatalities were attributed to Andrew, with some estimates ranging as high as $34 billion. Andrew was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history at the time, but is now seventh following hurricanes Katrina (2005), Ike (2008), Sandy (2012), Harvey (2017), Irma (2017), and Maria (2017).
Hurricane Hugo
The storm caused $7 billion in damage in the United States, surpassing Hurricane Frederic of 1979 as the costliest tropical cyclone in that country. Hugo itself was surpassed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and several others over the next few decades. South Carolina suffered the worst impact, where Hugo made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane. In that state alone, 3,307 single family homes were destroyed, 18,171 were inflicted major damage, and 56,580 sustained minor impact, while more than 12,600 mobile homes and 18,000 multi–family houses were either damaged or destroyed. Losses reached at least $5.9 billion and there were thirty-five fatalities reported in South Carolina. There was also significant impact in North Carolina, where 205 structures were destroyed, 1,149 were severely damaged, and 2,638 suffered minor losses. One fatality occurred and damage in North Carolina reached about $1 billion.