Damage Survey of Hurricane Andrew and Its Relationship to the Eyewall

Abstract

A damage map documenting Hurricane Andrew's destructive land fall over southern Florida is presented. Vectors that represent the direction of winds causing damage to trees and structures are shown along with an F-scale rating in order to assess the strength of the near-surface winds. It is hypothesized that increased surface roughness once the hurricane made landfall may have contributed to a surface wind enhancement resulting in the strongest winds ever estimated (F3) for a landfall hurricane. This intense damage occurred primarily during the ?second? period of strong winds associated with the east side of the eyewall. For the first time, a well-defined circulation in the damage pattern by the second wind was documented. A superposition of radar data from Miami and Key West on top of the damage map provides the first detailed examination of the relationship between the eyewall and the surface flow field as estimated from the damage vectors.