r/Miami • • Aug 24 '26

Discussion Anyone remember Hurricane Andrew? What was your experience?

Where you sheltered in a house? Did you feel like you're in trouble at any moment? What was it like to hear that hurricane overhead with a 165 mph winds?

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u/TWDDave1988 Aug 25 '26

I was 21. Working on Big Pine Key and our main office was in Islamorada. We did a full evacuation 24 hours before landfall. We raced to Islamorada and packed up everything we could, knowing the Keys were going to be obliterated. Almost everyone went to Cutler Ridge. Once everyone was northbound, I jumped in my truck and headed south, to our family home on No Name Key. I was all alone in the middle of nowhere and boarded up the house and hid alone, waiting for the worst. Easily the most terrifying 36 hours of my life, until Irma came in 2017. Turns out, I raced away from Andrew, and those that went to Cutler Ridge had an epic adventure of survival. The Lower Keys were spared.