Well, we are officially in the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season as the remnants of hurricane Cristobal continue to dump rain along the Gulf coast.
Cristobal is the earliest third storm to be named in the Atlantic hurricane season.
Compared with the worst storm to hit South Florida, Hurricane Andrew, which started off the season in August of 1992.
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Hurricane Andrew was a powerful and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992.
On August 24, Andrew struck Elliott Key with winds of 165 mph (266 km/h) and a pressure of 926 mbar (27.34 inHg).
About 25 minutes after its first Florida landfall, Andrew made another landfall just northeast of Homestead, with a slightly lower pressure of 922 mbar
This barometric pressure made Andrew the most intense hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane Camille in 1969 and the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in Florida since the Labor Day hurricane of 1935.
The United States and Florida would not experience another landfall from a hurricane at Category 5 intensity until Hurricane Michael in 2018 which wiped out portions of the Florida panhandle.
Andrew was so strong it blew the wind meter off the roof of the National Hurricane Center which at the time was located in Coral Gables.
The NHC then moved its facility west, miles inland near the Everglades to prevent any future direct hits.
Andrew caused major damage in the Bahamas and Louisiana, but the greatest impact was felt in South Florida, where the storm made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane, with 1-minute sustained wind speeds as high as 165 mph.
Passing directly through the city of Homestead with wind gusts up to 177 mph, Andrew stripped many homes of all but their concrete foundations. In total, Andrew destroyed more than 63,500 houses, damaged more than 124,000 others, caused $27.3 billion in damage, and left 65 people dead.
The cities of Florida City, Homestead, Cutler Ridge and parts of Kendall received the brunt of the storm. As many as 1.4 million people lost power at the height of the storm; some for more than one month.
In the Everglades, 70,000 acres of trees were downed, while invasive Burmese pythons began inhabiting the region after a nearby facility housing them was destroyed.
The 1992 Atlantic hurricane season was well below average with Andrew being one of the latest dates on record for the first named storm.
There were only six named storms, with Andrew being the only major hurricane. But as the head of the National Hurricane Center always says, “it just takes one.”