Before you read about Hurricane Andrew you must first know how a hurricane works and the destruction they cause to truly understand Hurricane Andrew’s devastation. A hurricane is the largest and strongest storm our atmosphere is capable of producing. Hurricanes have as much energy as a one-megaton hydrogen bomb and sometimes may be just as destructive. “If all of it could be converted into electricity, in two days an average hurricane could release enough heat energy to supply the whole of the United States for a year” (Allaby 43). The typical hurricane begins far out to

Also, the Atchafalaya River Basin in Louisiana contains the largest hardwood swamp in the United States and Hurricane Andrew caused significant damage in the basin. Trees were severely damaged, primarily the willow trees, but some cypress trees were also damaged. Along the coast of Louisiana eighty percent of the trees were knocked down and just twenty miles away only thirty percent of the trees were knocked down. Over half of the young squirrels in the Atchafalaya River Basin died due to the loss of trees. A whopping 182 million freshwater fish died “because of the resuspention of anaerobic bottom materials in the water column” (Lovelace and McPherson). A majority of the fish living in the Atchafalaya River Basin died within the first twenty-four hours after the storm had struck the area. The freshwater fish that died were valued at an estimated cost of 160 million dollars, and the majority of the fish that died were paddlefish. Along the coastal waters, an estimated 7.8 million dollars worth of saltwater fish were killed.

Finally, the people of Florida and Louisiana could breathe a sigh of relief that the storm was over. They saw their lives change right before their eyes. Hurricane Andrew was the costliest natural disaster ever to hit the United States. Its estimated cost was around 25 billion dollars. Twenty-six people had died directly from the storms power. Then, the number of indirect deaths due to accidents brought the total deaths to sixty-five. Two and a half million people were without power. There was no telephone or postal services, making it hard to contact family and friends. People became irritated because of a lack of privacy with having nowhere to shower or go to the bathroom. About twenty-five thousand people moved away from Florida after Hurricane Andrew. “Hurricane Andrew forever will be remembered for the catastrophic damage it left behind, shredding thousands of homes and buildings down to their foundations” (Kaye A1). The people of Florida and Louisiana are just happy to have survived such a hurricane.

First of all, Hurricane Andrew began being tracked by the National Hurricane Center on August 20, 1992. At this time Hurri

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