Effects of Hurricane Andrew in Florida
Strong winds from the hurricane significantly affected four counties in the state, which damaged or destroyed over 730,000 houses and buildings, while leaving more than 1 million without power. The storm surge impacted portions of Miami-Dade County, peaking at around 16.9 feet (5.2 m) just north of Homestead near the Burger King International Headquarters; the surge caused significant damage to boats and to the Charles Deering Estate. The nationwide maximum rainfall total from the hurricane was 13.98 inches (355 mm) in the western portion of Miami-Dade County. No major flooding was reported in the state. The hurricane caused about $25.3 billion (1992 USD) in damage and 44 deaths in the state—15 directly from the storm's effects and 29 indirectly related. Many other sources, however, estimated that Andrew caused more than $32 billion in damage in the state. Andrew was, at the time, the costliest hurricane in the history of the United States; it was surpassed in subsequent years by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hurricane Ike in 2008, Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 2017.
Country Walk, Florida
In August 1992, Country Walk was severely destroyed by Hurricane Andrew. 90% of the 1,700 homes in Country Walk were destroyed. Following the hurricane, property owners filed lawsuits against the developer of Country Walk, Arvida for shoddy construction. In the subsequent years, the homes were slowly rebuilt. Unlike the destroyed homes which were made of wood frame construction, the new homes were rebuilt with concrete walls. Although many areas of Miami were heavily affected by Hurricane Andrew, Country Walk was one of the worst affected and remains a reminder of the hurricane's extensive disaster in the CDP today.