HURRICANE ANDREW REMEMBERED....... 10 YEARS LATER

When Hurricane Andrew struck Florida and Louisiana 10 years ago this week, residents in both states endured a primal terror as the storm flipped cars, ripped off roofs, flooded roads and made deadly spears out of debris.

All told, Andrew's 165 mph winds and surge killed 61 people and cost more than $25 billion. Once the storm passed, Andrew's effects lingered for affected residents. They spent many long weeks, months, and -- in some cases -- years, rebuilding their homes and lives in the aftermath of this historic storm. (taken from weather.com)

Below is Chip Wiggs' account of the storm as he lived through it:

Going through a storm like Hurricane Andrew is an experience that defies explanation. I was in South Dade County 10 years ago and experienced the hurricane first hand. Let me set up my situation. I had recently bought a new house in a sub-division called Country Walk, moving in the previous April. I had the normal problems most people have with a new house, first, the air-conditioning needed servicing and some problem with various windows. Thursday, August 20^th I had a company repair the enamel on the tub in the master bathroom. They were supposed to make a return visit on Tuesday, August 25^th. They never made it back. I think I first heard about Andrew on Friday, August 21. It was not supposed to develop into anything significant. On Saturday morning, I rose early and checked the Weather Channel. It still did not sound too bad, but I decided that I had better go to the grocery store and buy some bottled water. When I arrived at my local Publix, at 7:00am opening time, there was a line, I decided that it was not worth the wait, so I left. Later, I was called by my boss at a local insurance company, and asked to come in to secure some of the electronic equipment. I went in and wrapped a number of personal computers in plastic bags, I remember thinking that it was all a waste of time, either the storm was going to miss us or it wouldn’t make any difference anyway.

I returned home around 2:00pm that Saturday afternoon. There was not any chance that I would be able to find any plywood, even if I wanted to brave the long lines at the home supply store, so I just went around my yard, picking up and storing items that could be blown around. I still was not really worried. I had a Ford F150 pickup truck and a single car garage that I used as a workshop. I decided to see if my truck would fit in the garage.  After moving a lot of tools around, I was able to fit my truck in the garage, which turned out to be a good decision. As late afternoon that Saturday arrived, I decided to go outside and take some pictures of my house. For some reason, I was worried about my landscaping and wanted to have evidence for my insurer. I did not know then that landscaping was not covered by my policy. That evening, I watched Brian Norcross on the local NBC station and became more and more concerned. At that point there was not much more I could do, so I tried to settle in and get through it as well as I could. The winds started picking up around midnight. I considered my options and decided to take a mattress from my guest bedroom and lay it sideways across the bed of my truck, ‘just in case’. I felt sort of foolish, like I was worrying too much. I stayed in the main house until around 2:00am. The winds had gotten so strong that I felt I would be safer under the mattress. I picked up Ace, my cat, went into the garage and climbed into my truck bed under the mattress. Ace did not want anything to do with it and soon disappeared. About 30 minutes later, I heard her crying and I got out of the truck and picked her up again. This time she stayed with me.

Andrew made landfall around 4:00 am August 24^th about 10 miles due east of me.  At first, I was hoping that my windows would not be broken, but that hope soon disappeared. I heard a sound that I didn’t understand, sort of like a machine gun, rat-a-tat-tat. It took me a little while to realize that it was the sound of my neighbors shingles being ripped off the roof and hurled into the east side of my house. After I figured that out, I realized I was really in a bad situation. The sound of the wind cannot be explained, from around 4:30 am to 6:00 am, I just cowered in my truck and hoped that it would not get much worse. I went through stages, first, I didn’t want my house destroyed and finally I just wanted to get out alive. I was thinking “I’ll be ok if it just doesn’t get any worse”. I think I said this to myself around 5 times with each increase of the noise.  I was even surprised to discover that I had used the expletive “holy shit” too cavalierly in the past, as it was not strong enough to express my feelings. I have never used that expletive again, I am saving it for something that is truly deserving. During this time, I began to get wet. At first, it seemed unreal, since I am closed in my garage, but it is happening none the less. I had a bed liner in my truck, so it got to around 4 inches deep before it started overflowing. Neither me, nor Ace made any move to get out, we just laid there. I was wishing that I had tied the mattress to my truck. I was also calculating the distance I was from the east wall of my house in case the wall blew over. I calculated that the tie-beam would probably fall on us if the wall did give  way.  As time went on, the noise gradually decreased. I had recently bought a cell phone, one of the early Motorola ‘bricks’. I finally managed to get a signal and called  Dad to see if he could tell me if the storm had actually passed or if I was in the eye. It turns out that the northern edge of the eye wall had passed around six blocks south of me and that the storm was leaving. After a while, I got up the courage to crawl out and see what had happened. When I jumped out of my truck, I landed in about 18 inches of water. Remember that I was actually under what was left of the roof of my house. Thankfully, the garage door was not blocked and I was able to enter my main house. I could not believe it. Parts of the roof were gone and interior walls were missing. The front door, jam and all, was in the kitchen. I went outside and looked around. There was not one house intact.  I was concerned about my next door neighbor, the second floor of his house was entirely gone, so I called out and was relieved to hear him respond. He, his wife and 3 small children had spent the storm leaning against a closet door to try and keep the storm out. I felt lucky that I didn’t have anyone with me that I had to protect. I had no concept of the extent of the devastation. I called Dad again and asked him to try and call my friend Bob Campbell and tell him that I needed help. I was also worried that my neighbors may be injured or need help, so I walked a few blocks in each direction from my house to see. I was greeted somewhat suspiciously by most people, but it turns out that all in my immediate area were OK. I went home and settled in to wait, on what I don’t really know. I just knew I needed some downtime. I had a small refrigerator in the garage where I kept some beer in case friends stopped by. I decided that there was no use in letting it get warm, so I opened a couple for me and my neighbor. The roof was so torn up that it didn’t keep out very much of the rain. I sat in my garage in a plastic garbage bag, cut out as a poncho, for a few hours, drinking beer. All at once Bob showed up. He had to leave his car about a mile away and walk the rest of the way. I was so grateful to see him, I still don’t know how he made it from North Miami to South Dade, but I cried on his shoulder for a while. It was such a relief. I decided that there was not much of anything left of my belongings, so I packed up a few personal items, like pictures, and followed Bob out of the area. Debris had blocked all access to my sub-division, but someone had found a front-end loader, started it up and made an exit. It took around 4 hours to go the 14 miles to Bob’s house. The roads were still under water. I’m not sure how I made it, since I had been awake for around 36 hours, but I did. Nobody in Dade County had any power at that time and the water pressure was non-existent, so I just put Ace in Bob’s garage and went to sleep. The next morning Bob was called by our employer and asked to go to Chicago to keep the company running in disaster recovery mode. He left and I drove back to South Dade. It took many hours to get back to my house, but I found everything like I had left it. I surveyed the damage and decided that the only thing worth carrying out were my washer and dryer. I loaded them into my truck and navigated around the area. I could not believe what I was seeing. We still had only radio to keep us informed and radio did not do it justice. Actually, video didn’t either. It was the following Thursday before Bob’s condo had power restored. I looked in the mirror and did not recognize myself, I hand never gone so long without shaving. There was still no water pressure, but I took a shower in the dribble we had and felt lucky .

During that week, I was in contact with Mom and Dad. They kept asking me if they could come down and help me in any way. I wasn’t sure what they could do, but I finally told them to come on down but to bring enough supplies to keep them going for the duration of their stay. They arrived at my friend John Chapman’s house early that Saturday morning. John lived in the same area as Bob and did not have much storm damage. Carol, Philip, Terry and my Dad came down bringing around 3000 pounds of ice in the refrigerated seafood truck that Larry Parker lent for the trip. In the days before my family’s arrival, the management at my company had organized into a relief center for employees. They had formed teams to board up houses, move out furniture, supply water and ice. The lobby of the building was virtually a supply depot, diapers, first aid kits, food, clothes, anything that you could think of was available, free for the taking. I was a ‘navigator’ since I knew South Dade. I had much trouble finding my way around since so many landmarks were gone, but I did that for around a week. My Dad arrived and knew that I needed to focus on myself. He convinced me to commit to an apartment that my company had reserved. We spent a few days going through the rubble at my house, but I was not functioning properly. Carol finally realized that and took control, directing me on what to do. That was when I realized that my baby sister was grown and could take care of herself.  Carol, Philip, Terry and Dad made sure that I was moved in to an apartment before they left. I will be forever grateful for everyone’s help.

Chip

Next is Carl Wiggs' remembrance of the events: 

I remember that Sunday watching the weather reports.  I expected the hurricane to turn north and go in at the upper part of Florida or the Carolinas.  I got out a map of Florida and spent the night plotting the path of the hurricane.  It was headed directly for Cutler Ridge, where Chip had his new home. 

Very early Monday morning Chip called me on his cell phone to see if the hurricane had passed him or if he was in the eye.  He wanted to go out and see if the children in the house next to him were all right.  I then called Bob to see if he could get to Chip to help. 

Later in the week we took the refrigerated truck with ice paid for by the Dalraida church and an electric generator which was loaned to me by Bill Pemberton.  This one generator was used in many houses, which were intact but flooded, to furnish power to dry their carpets.

The insurance company where Chip worked had organized a relief effort with food, clothing and other supplies.  Chip was helping in this effort and also going to the area to see if he could contact employees of the company to see if they needed assistance.  We made trips to Homestead and many of the most severely affected areas.

There were no telephones available in the area.  Chip would let people use his cell phone to contact friends and relatives.  I think Chip told me Cellular One discounted his bill as they could see it was used in the relief effort. 

During this time relief effort vehicles were exempted from paying tolls on the expressway to Miami.

I hope we never have to experience another Andrew!

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