History of Florida
Hurricane Andrew in August 1992 struck Homestead, just south of Miami, as a Category 5 hurricane, leaving forty people dead, 100,000 homes damaged or destroyed, more than a million people left without electricity, and damages of $20–30 billion. Much of South Florida's sensitive vegetation was severely damaged. The region had not seen a storm of such power in decades. Besides heavy property damage, the hurricane nearly destroyed the region's insurance industry.
1944 Cuba–Florida hurricane
The storm killed 300 people and left $10 million (1944 USD, ) in damage. It is estimated that, if a similar hurricane struck here in the year 2010, it would cause $40.6 billion (2010 USD) in damage, making this one of the worst-case storms for western Florida.