Hurricane Andrew 16th Anniversary

Sixteen years ago last night Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida from the east as a Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 165 m.p.h. causing tens of billions in damage and killing 26 people directly and almost 40 indirectly.
The storm reemerged over the Gulf of Mexico and proceeded to strike the coast of Louisiana as a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 115 m.p.h. on August 26, 1992.

Personal footnote: I was staying at the Best Western Cameron Park Inn in El Dorado County, California, the night this occurred. First reports the next morning were initially few and I began to think that maybe it wasn't so bad given the lack of bad news. Soon it became clear the silence from the path of the storm was bad news as modern civilization as we know it ceased to exist in that zone for several days or more and some people became desperate for lack of basic necessities and still others became lawless and order broke down.

Political footnote: the storm's overwhelming aftermath contributed to the end of George H. W. Bush's Presidency as FEMA and the rest of the Federal Government were perceived as ineffective and slow to respond. Sound familiar?

Kimmer