Effects of Hurricane Irma in Florida
Irma was the first major hurricane to strike the state since Wilma in 2005 and the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Charley in 2004. The storm made landfall in Florida on the same date as Hurricane Donna, the last Category 4 hurricane to strike the Florida Keys. Irma was only the second hurricane to hit Florida since Wilma, the other being Hermine in 2016. Due to few very intense hurricanes since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, there was concern that many Floridians never experienced or did not recall experiencing a hurricane as strong as Irma was projected to be at landfall, with significant growth in population and assets during the previous 25 years.
Meteorological history of Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew was a small tropical cyclone, with winds of extending out only about from its center. Subsequent to peaking in intensity, the hurricane underwent an eyewall replacement cycle, and at 2100 UTC on August 23, Hurricane Andrew struck Eleuthera as a Category 5 hurricane, with winds of . The cyclone weakened further while crossing the Bahama Banks, and at 0100 UTC on August 24, Andrew made landfall on the southern Berry Islands of the Bahamas as a Category 4 hurricane, with winds of . As it crossed over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream in the Straits of Florida, the hurricane rapidly re-intensified, as the eye decreased in size and its eyewall convection deepened. At 0840 UTC on August 24, Andrew struck Elliott Key with winds of and a central pressure of 926 mbar. About 25 minutes after its first Florida landfall, Andrew hit just northeast of Homestead with a slightly lower pressure of 922 mbar. A recording station at the National Hurricane Center recorded a peak gust of , and sustained winds peaked at in Tamiami.