[ExSoldier]

The major hazzard for hurricanes besides the tornado factor is the flooding from the storm tides which can sweep whole coastal homes away and the other flooding that comes from torrential downpours. Then there is a disease factor when the sewage systems back up and the water stops flowing.

Thankfully, Andrew was a rare dry and very fast moving storm system. I was in the national guard then and the scary part was after the storm. Most of which never came to public light.

[nwctwx]

Yeah, I have studied Andrew a good bit. Weather was the first subject I intently studied, I could probably take any TV meteoroligist'ss job if only I had a degree in meteorology! ;)

Andrew flew across Florida (I think it was moving 20mph+, which is very fast for such a well defined storm). My family has friends with horses in the area, some farms were completely lost. It was a terrible storm, the wind with Andrew was too much for many to handle. The Homestead area was in ruins after it went through. It was amazing that only 23 people died in the storm.

Most of the recent tropical activity (past several years) has been flooding more than wind. Isabel was a biggy last year (category 5 before landfall), but mostly noteable for flooding once it came ashore. Storm surge is always a big killer with big storms, and especially in low lying regions. If New Orleans was hit by a CAT 3+ storm correctly, much of the city would end up underwater.

A few interesting pages about some biggies:
Tis the season

Hurricane Andrew : Satellite Image

Hurricane Camille "The most extreme meteorological event to take place in North America"
Galvaston Hurricane "The Storm That Changed America"

[null and void]

I was in the national guard then and the scary part was after the storm. Most of which never came to public light.

*shrug* I hope word gets around far enough to discourage future looters. That will save your buds the necessity of going through it next time.