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.
List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes
The first hurricane to cause at least $1 billion in damage was Hurricane Betsy in 1965, which caused much of its damage in southeastern Louisiana. Four years later, Hurricane Camille caused over $1 billion in damage as it ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi at landfall, and Virginia after moving inland. After the 1960s, each decade saw an increase in tropical cyclones causing at least a billion in damage over the last, due to increasing urban development and population. In the 1970s, four hurricanes caused at least a billion in damage; the costliest of which was Hurricane Agnes, which caused $2.1 billion in damage. The following decade featured seven hurricanes causing at least a billion in damage. In the 1990s, twelve tropical cyclones accrued at least a billion in damage, including Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The system greatly exceeded the damage figure of any preceding tropical cyclone, causing $27.3 billion in damage, mostly in South Florida. Nineteen tropical cyclones in the 2000s caused at least $1 billion in damage. The 2005 season had six billion-dollar hurricanes, the most of any season on record. Hurricanes Ivan in 2004 and Irma in 2017 caused at least $1 billion in damage in four separate countries. Thus far in the 2010s, twelve storms have caused at least $1 billion in damage, the most recent of which is Hurricane Michael, which accrued at least $15.1 billion in damage.