The city’s expansion was a major effect of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Thousands of southern Miami-Dade County residents moved northward to Broward County, many to Pembroke Pines. The population greatly increased as former owners of destroyed homes spent their insurance money on an inland city.
The resulting boom ranked the City of Pembroke Pines third in a list of Fastest Growing Cities in the United States in 1999.[2] Over the years, the sudden and unplanned overpopulation has caused problems, especially in schools. In 2003, Charles W. Flanagan High School had close to 6,000 students, making it the most populated high school in Florida. In response to Broward County's inability to keep up with demands, Mayor Alex Fekete and City Manager Charles Dodge started a Charter School System. As of 2006, Pembroke Pines had the largest Charter School System in the county. The city is also home to a campuses for Broward Community College and Florida International University. The city's population has grown from (1990 pop. 65,452) to an estimated 2005 population of 148,000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pembroke_Pines,_Florida
The city’s expansion was a major effect of Hurricane Andrew in 1992.Was stationed at Homestead AFB for Andrew... was awful... shame many of the people moved up into Broward county.... it was known by most, if not all, of the military personnel to be VERY liberal, and to avoid it if possible... MJ