Hurricane Andrew... 30 Years Since

[Palmarum]

Hard to fathom it has been 30 years since that storm redrew the landscape in South Florida, mostly burning a deep scar across Miami-Dade altering landmarks along the way. From that point forward, the palm & plant world was permanently divided into 'pre-Andrew' and 'post-Andrew' eras. So much damage. Many collections, gardens, nurseries were never the same again, if they recovered at all. I remember the talk and discussions afterwards including 'Yes I did have a big specimen of that -- before Andrew'. I hear new stories now and then, but they are becoming more infrequent.

The views traveling south along I-95 are etched into my memory, as my first trip was a few days afterwards, trying to get to friends' & relatives houses. No leaves on anything, no fronds, no roofs, no noticeable landmarks... just grey and bleak. We did not make it, roads were all blocked. The second trip was about a week after, my dad and I drove a big yellow Ryder truck to Fairchild Gardens with relief supplies for the garden. They were donated by plant societies and nurseries from Broward county and others to the north. It was so packed. It was filled to the top with wet cubic yard bags of sphagnum moss, peat moss and soil. The truck was so overloaded the two front wheels were bowing out at the bottom. We, along with our escort began to guess if the truck was going to make it, but it did. Many of us returned to Fairchild afterwards for one of many clean-up days. I was told not to bring my camera, but I should have anyway. Police and National Guard were stopping 'tourists' that were touring the area to take photos.

The summer of '92 saw the creation of the Broward County Palm & Cycad Society. Over the summer, the newly formed Board began to meet and form ideas for the Society, including where and when the first meeting should take place. We advertised and spread the word to a palm crazy county. We chose the meeting hall at the Extension Office next to Broward College and chose the date, the last Monday in August.... Surprise, no one showed up. It was just us, a few board members, a cooler full of drinks and a lot of storm related stories. It was still one to remember.

Prior to Andrew, many in the plant world did not think about hurricanes that much. We had been fortunate so far and I think we got lax a bit, Andrew changed all that. Even with the warnings of Andrew's approach and very wide margin of possible impact, we in Broward didn't think of it that much. The last storm that many at the time even struggled to remember was Donna, in 1960. At the time, Hurricane Donna existed only as stories told by my older relatives. As kids in late August, we were more concerned with school starting in a couple weeks, not with this 'Andrew' thing on the news. Then boom... After a couple weeks of no power, etc. us kids began to wonder if school was going to start at all, but it did, oh well.

Ryan

[JohnAndSancho]

I was a kid back then, but our Boy Scout troop went to Sea Base in the Keys in 93. I had seen a couple Cat 1 or 2s but never seen damage so extensive. Since then I've lived through Ivan, Katrina, and Harvey among a lot of other less notable disasters. 

[JLM]

I have a neighbor here that lived down there when Andrew hit, she said nothing was recognizable. 

[Palmaceae]

I remember it very well, we lived in Orlando at the time and worked for Disney Horticulture. My son and I and a bunch of Disney volunteers went down to Fairchild to assist in the cleanup. I was the one driving as I was very familiar with Miami, but when we got there it was very different, most of the landmarks were gone and looked a lot different.  I remember it being very hot and no shade.

[bubba]

Andrew was a wicked destroyer. Original projections had it curving north but when those Cape Verde’s hit Cat 5, they seem to travel on a bead.

My brother-in-law drove down to check damage on a Publix Shopping Center in Homestead and got to a certain point and turned around. He said everything was flattened.

Latter in the week we got a big truck, loaded it with water and food and handed it out. People were still walking around in circles. Numbing, sad and tragic.