It's hard to believe for me, but 15 years ago today I went through one of the more fearsome weather events this country has ever seen, Hurricane Andrew, one of only four Atlantic Basin Category Five hurricanes to make landfall. At tthe time I was about to begin my second year of law school, and had just come off a very rough first year. Still, I had made it through, and was ready to see what the second year would bring. As it turned out, it brought Hurricane Andrew on August 24, 1992.
For those who have never been through a hurricane, there is no way to really explain it properly. The howling winds, the sounds of things being blown around, the pounding rain, the sense that it is never going to end, all are part of a truly incredible (and not in a good way) experience. I had friends who literally lost everything they had except for the clothes on their backs. School, which was supposed to begin that week, was delayed by three weeks. That allowed my friends and I to do some hurricane relief volunteer work and, because we were all so much more fortunate than so many others, to go to Disneyworld for four days.
There are several mental images which will never leave my mind: The utter devastation in Homestead and South Miami. See Royal Palms lying across the parking lot of my apartment complex. Going to my law school several days later and seeing not a single tree standing. Watching parrots fly around, after they had been "set free" from Parrot Jungle. Being unable to get a phone line for over a day to tell my parents that I was okay. Bonding with several close friends, people I am still honoured to call my friends to this very day. Staring in amazement and bemusement as emergency services workers fished an understandably confused dolphin out of a swimming pool. I could go on and on...........
Hurricane Andrew was one of those "Where were you?" moments for me, and it remains one of the most incredible events of my life.
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