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severely damaged. Many of the homes were of sub-
standard construction for a hurricane-prone area.
For example, plywood had been stapled to supports
instead of being secured using screws or bolts. Much
of the damage was caused by vortices that developed
in the main wind stream, then tightened, and wound
up to speeds of 120 km hr -1 in 10-20 seconds. Where
the wind in these mini-cyclones flowed with the main
air stream, wind velocities exceeded 200 km hr -1 - with
buildings torn apart, seemingly sporadically, and
debris flung at tornadic speeds (Figure 3.8). The
official death toll was only 55, although there is
evidence that it may have been higher because the
region contained a high number of illegal immigrants.
Over $US30 billion worth of property was destroyed.
The hurricane then swept into the Gulf of Mexico and,
two days later, came ashore in Louisiana, killing
15 people and causing another $US2 billion of
destruction. This was the biggest insurance disaster in
the country. What followed became one of the biggest
federal government 'non-responses' in history.
Looting was rampant and temperatures and humidity
soared; but for a week state and federal authorities
ignored the extent of the disaster. Over 250 000
people were homeless, there was no food or safe
drinking water, and sanitation was failing due to food
rotting in disconnected freezers and a lack of service-
able toilets. Usually, when response to a disaster
requires resources beyond the capability of a state
government, assistance is provided by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA
was established in 1979 as an independent federal
agency reporting directly to the President. It has a
clear mission to reduce loss of life and property and
protect critical infrastructure from all types of haz-
ards through a comprehensive, risk-based, emergency
management program of mitigation, preparedness,
response, and recovery. However, it had no capability
to provide emergency accommodation, food, and
medical assistance on the scale needed in southern
Florida. Even private relief agencies such as the Red
Cross did not know how to distribute donations they
were receiving. Finally, Dade County's Emergency
Director, Kate Hale, made a passionate public plea:
'Where the hell is the cavalry on this one?' Only then
were military personnel increased to 16 000 to assist
with clean-up and relief. So poor was FEMA's
response that Congress considered eliminating the
agency.
Damage done to a typical suburb in Darwin by Cyclone Tracy,
December 1974 (photograph courtesy John Fairfax and Sons
Limited, Sydney, FFX Ref: Stevens 750106/27 #4).
Fig. 3.6
Mitch in Central America in 1998. Hurricane Andrew
struck after a 27-year lull in intense cyclones in the
United States. The storm began on 13 August 1992 as
a region of thunderstorms off western Africa and
rapidly developed into an easterly wave. It became a
weak tropical cyclone on 17 August; but by 23 August
it had developed central winds of 240 km hr -1 and a
central pressure of 922 hPa. Andrew made landfall
in Dade County, 32 km south of Miami, just after
midnight on Monday 24 August (Figure 3.7). While
up to one million people had evacuated to shelters in
the Miami area, most of the 370 000 residents of Dade
County were still in their homes under the assumption
that they were not in the path of the hurricane.
Warnings were issued to them on television only
minutes before winds began gusting to 280 km hr -1 -
simultaneously with the arrival of a storm surge of
4.9 m. This made it a category 5 hurricane. Over
25 500 homes were destroyed and another 101 000
 
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