Until Hurricane Katrina, Andrew was the most damaging storm in U.S. history, causing $26.5 billion in damage, 23 deaths in the United States and three more in the Bahamas.

Most of the damage was caused by Andrew's monstrous winds, which are estimated to have been about 167 mph (269 kph) when it made landfall in Florida on Aug. 24, 1992, making it a Category 5 storm, the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane strength. (Andrew was initially listed as a Category 4 storm at landfall, but a 2004 paper that re-analyzed the data bumped it up to a 5. Accurate estimates of the storm's strength were tricky to make, because the storm destroyed so many instruments when it hit.)

In the hardest hit areas of south Florida, Andrew reportedly destroyed 25,524 homes and damaged 101,241 others, according to the NHC. In Homestead, which was virtually obliterated by the storm, more than 99 percent of mobile homes were destroyed.

As bad as Andrew was, the havoc it wreaked could have been much worse if it was not a compact storm and if it had hit slightly higher on Florida's southeast coast — in this case, Miami and several other more densely populated areas would've been hit with unimaginable consequences.

A History of Destruction: 8 Great Hurricanes