On August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew made landfall in Homestead, Florida as a Category 4 hurricane. At the time, it was the third most intense hurricane that ever struck the United States. Andrew had sustained winds of 149 mph and gusts of up to 169 mph, with a storm surge of 17 feet at landfall.1 Andrew inflicted devastating damage throughout Florida and elsewhere, causing 23 deaths and property damage in the billions. Andrew’s ferocity has since been dwarfed by storms like Katrina and Maria, which caused much greater loss of life and property damage. But unlike the latter storms, Andrew was the catalyst for sweeping changes in the Florida Building Code that imposed, among other things, stronger minimum design loads for new buildings and structures, and imposed requirements to protect against wind borne debris.

Originally presented in the 2019 Annual Program, American Bar Association - April 2019.