What would happen if Miami got hit?

[garybeck]

Just wondering... what would happen if one of these monster storms had a direct hit on Miami? I looked it up and the city is only 8 feet above sea level. I don't want to think bad things, but I couldn't help wondering, as I watched the animation of Rita scooting right by.

[raccoon]

1. GW wouldn't be eating cake & strumming the guitar, that's for sure. nt

[BOHICA06]

2. Art Deco would be Wrecko

South Beach might be geographically altered into non-existence.

100s would die - Cost would be in the 100s of Billions

[Kindigger]

3. I would miss CSI Miami?

:(

[dryan]

5. A cat 5...

nearly took out the Keys in the 1920s.

[Coexist]

4. Miami has lots of high-rise condos

it would be different, but not being an expert in building construction, I don't know how rising water affects these.

[Orangepeel]

6. it did. Hurricane Andrew in, what? 1991?

People who have been in Miami awhile sometimes still talk about "before Andrew" and "after Andrew" as distinct time periods. It was devastating.

[marbuc]

8. Andrew hit in 1992

and actually came ashore south of Miami, so the city did not receive the full brunt of the blow. It did suffer significant damage though, so a direct hit might be catastrophic. I've heard the same thing about Miami that I've heard about NO (pre-Katrina); that Miami has been fortunate to this point to not have suffered a direct hit (at least not for a while).

Not that I'm predicting damage of Katrina's magnitude for Miami. It is above sea level, and does not have quite the flooding issues as NO.

[bikebloke]

7. Lived on South beach briefly

When the tide is up and it rains hard, many streets don't drain. With a surge, the beach and downtown would be under water. Who knows how many high rise building constructed to withstand hurricane winds will actually survive. What with the corruption, who knows what the contractors skimped on.

I was down there when Hugo approached. They had plenty of evacuation busses at the convention center, ferrying folk out. Wrapping most of my belongings in plastic, I waited until the last minute. The Hugo veered away.

[Freddie Stubbs]

9. Miami would not be as bad as New Orleans

The water offshore is deeper, so it would absorb some of the storm surge. It would also drain much more quickly, as it actually above sea level.

[RebelOne]

10. Miami has gotten hit quite often.

When I lived down there, I think at least 4 or 5 hurricanes have hit Miami. Luckily, none of them were wet hurricanes, just a lot of wind. And I think most of them were Cat 1.

[realFedUp]

11. A lot of wealthy people would get money and ice right away. nt