Residents of Florida have seen and endured many a hurricanes. Most of these people have noticed several similarities between the current storm and Hurricane Andrew which had affected the same area in August 1992.
Hurricane Andrew had hit the area of Homestead south of Miami. The winds of the hurricane had reached more than 160mph. It had surged to 6 feet. The region had received a rainfall of around 8 inches.
Hurricane Andrew had taken the same path that Hurricane Matthew has taken. It was one of the most destructive hurricanes to ever hit America.
Andrew destroyed entire neighborhoods, miles and miles of power lines. Total destruction caused by the hurricane in monetary terms was calculated at 26 billion dollars for the state of Florida alone.
The mayor of Miami, Carlos Gimenez has issued warnings to all the residents of the city who have chosen to stay in the city rather than leave it. These people hope to wait out the storm until it moves towards the Eastern coast of the Florida state.
He advised all those residents to stay where they are.be prepared for the ordeal. He further stated that people should avoiding getting out of their houses and the storm has passed.
The governor of Florida State, Rick Scott urged people to evacuate the area saying that there will be massive destruction caused by the hurricane. He also mentioned hurricane Andrew in his statement by saying that the effect of hurricane Mathew will be comparable to that of the previous one that hit the same area in 1992.
Notably, the hurricane Andrew had claimed 23 lives in America and 3 in Bahamas. It has been stated by the authorities that hurricane Mathew has already claimed around 280 lives in Haiti alone.
Hurricane Matthew is being regarded as a very strong tropical cyclone over the Atlantic. It is also the first category 5 hurricane since Felix in 2007.
It was formed due to vigorous tropical wave that moved from the coast in Africa by the end of September. It progressed on a westward track till it developed into a storm and very rapidly turned into a strong category 5 hurricanes.