1926 Hurricane
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Hurricane Andrew tore itself into the record books back in1992. As it made landfall just south of Miami, it left a quarter of a million people homeless. Andrew became the costliest weather disaster in U.S. history. But was it really the worst that could happen to South Florida?

Hi. I'm Bryan Yeaton for the Weather Notebook.

Seventy-five years ago today, Miami was hit dead-on by the great hurricane of 1926. The brunt of Andrew passed south of Miami, but the1926 storm focused on the area from downtown Miami northward, along a strip that's now lined with luxury hotels and condominiums. The 1926 storm hit well before the days of satellite and radar - in fact, it was before we even started naming hurricanes. Greater Miami's 300,000 residents went to bed on the night of the 17th expecting high winds and rain. But they didn't expect sustained winds of more than 120 miles per hour.

When the hurricane's eye moved through at dawn, people and cars swarmed into the streets to see the wreckage, only to be trapped by the second half of the storm. More than 200 people died.

We don't know all the meteorological details of this hurricane, but we can estimate its fury. Some researchers have guessed from the damage left behind, that the 1926 storm could have been twice as expensive and destructive as Andrew. Even though it never had a name, the hurricane of 1926 left its mark on thousands - and it lives on as an example of what the Atlantic can bring to South Florida.

Thanks again today to Bob Henson, who sits far away from the reach of most hurricanes, in Boulder, Colorado.

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