The 24th of this month marks the anniversary of the day Hurricane Andrew chewed its way across South Florida. In the wake of the storm, which took just 90 minutes to turn 65,000 homes into scrap, teams of experts from a host of government and trade groups sifted through the rubble to see what they could learn. Initially, news reports were filled with charges and countercharges as to who was to blame. Much of the early criticism fell on builders, who claimed in their defense that Andrew’s winds were so far above the 120-mile-per-hour design load in the South Florida Building Code that even wellconstructed homes went down. Early reports by the National
After the Storm: Hard-Won Lessons
"Despite the hellish winds, experts agree that much of the damage from Hurricane Andrew was preventable. Stricter and clearer codes and better training of builders and inspectors are needed to avert disaster next time."
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