30 Years Ago

I have now lived in Florida for a longer time than I have lived anywhere else.

I grew up in New York, but have lived off and on in Florida for years and have spent the past 17 years of my life here in the Sunshine State.

30 years ago, I was living and working in St. Louis, but I remember where I was to the day. I was in south Florida covering Hurricane Andrew.

I remember flying into Ft. Myers (Miami Airport had closed as the storm was approaching) and renting a car to drive across Alligator Alley to Miami. I knew that Andrew was going to be a monster, I just didn’t know how bad it was going to get.

Driving across Alligator Alley was surreal, all the toll booths were closed and the car I was in, was the only car headed East. All the other cars were going in the other direction.

Andrew was a monster storm and the impact on the state was huge.

Here is a look back at some coverage from Channel 4 in Miami.