YOU REALIZE JUST HOW CLOSE YOU
CAME TO BEING KILLED.
BRIAN: JOINING ME ON SET IS
BRIAN NOR CROSS -- BRYAN
NORCROSS.
IT’S EXTRAORDINARY TO THINK IT
WAS 30 YEARS AGO THAT HURRICANE
ANDREW JUST BLEW THROUGH THERE.
YOU WERE ON AIR FOR 23 HOURS
TRYING TO HELP PEOPLE THROUGH
THAT.
TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU WERE DOING
AND HOW YOU WERE FEELING IN THAT
TIME ON AIR THAT DAY.
>> MANY PEOPLE, BRIAN, HAVE SAID
HOW’D YOU DO THAT?
WHY WOULD CAN YOU STAY FOR 23
HOURS?
AND I’D SAY, WHERE WOULD I GO?
AND THE WAY I LOOK AT IT IS I
KNEW THAT THE PEOPLE SOUTH OF
MIAMI IN THE SUBURBS SOUTH THAT
WERE GOING THROUGH THAT, LIKE
BILL AND SANDY YOU SAW IN THAT
CLIP THERE, THAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT
I HAD WAS THE EASY PART, YOU
KNOW?
I’M JUST SITTING HERE AT AN
ANCHOR DESK AND TRYING TO SORT
OUT WHAT TO DO.
THE SMARTEST THING I EVER SAID
IN MY LIFE IS I SAID WHEN IT
LOOKED LIKE IT WAS GOING TO BE
THE WORST POSSIBLE THING WHICH
IT WAS, FRIENDS, HERE’S WHAT I
WANT YOU TO DO, I WANT YOU TO
GET A MATTRESS FROM THE BED, AND
I WANT YOU TO GET YOU AND YOUR
FAMILY URN THAT MATTRESS AND
RIDE THING OUT.
BILL AND SANDY DID, AND IN THAT
PILE OF DEBRIS --
BRIAN: WOW.
YEAH, I DON’T THINK PEOPLE
UNDERSTAND YOUR MINDSET WAS HOW
DO I HELP PEOPLE IN PRACTICAL
WAYS GET THROUGH THIS?
YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET THEM,
OBVIOUSLY, AND KNOW THEIR STORY,
BUT WHAT ELSE REALLY SURPRISED
YOU ABOUT THE WAYS THAT PEOPLE
HAD TO TRY TO RIDE OUT THAT
STORM AND THE EFFECT IT HAD ON
THEIR LIVES?
>> WELL, YOU KNOW, WHAT REALLY
SURPRISED ME WAS THAT THE STORM
WAS SO CATASTROPHIC.
IT WAS A 20-MILE-WIDE TORNADO,
AND THE TORNADO RATING SYSTEM
EF5, TOP END TORNADO FOR 0 MILES
WIDE -- 20 MILES WIDE.
THESE BUILDINGS WERE NOT BADLY
CONSTRUCTED FOR THE MOST PART.
THEY WEREN’T GREAT LIKE THE
BUILDINGS THAT ARE BUILT IN
MIAMI TODAY, BUT THEY WEREN’T
THAT BAD, RIGHT?
SO-JUST SO EXTREME THAT PEOPLE
HAD TO FIND EVERY DEVICE THEY
COULD INCLUDING GETTING THE
FAMILY ON THE DOOR OF A BEDROOM
OR BATHROOM TO KEEP THE STORM
THAT’S IN THE HOUSE BUT OUTSIDE
OF THAT ROOM TO RIDE IT OUT.
AND HE WERE CALLING ME ON THE
PHONE -- THEY WERE CALLING ME ON
THE PHONE DURING THE STORM WHILE
THEY WERE DOING IT.
BRIAN: YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT
THE CITY NOT BEING BUILT THAT
BADLY, SORT OF PREPARED FOR
SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
30 YEARS HAVE PASSED.
YOU LOOK AT CITIES AROUND THE
COUNTRY EXPOSED TO THESE KINDS
OF RISKS, WHAT’S YOUR ASSESSMENT
OF THE READINESS OF SOME OF
AMERICA’S CITIES RIGHT NOW IN.
>> IN MIAMI, THE BEST BUILDINGS
IN THE WORLD ARE BUILT IN
MIAMI-DADE AND BROWARD COUNTY.
I WISH THAT THE REST OF THE
HURRICANE COAST WOULD ADOPT THAT
CODE.
THEY’VE ADOPTED IN MANY CASES A
BETTER CODE E THAN THEY HAD, BUT
STILL IT’S NOT UP TO DEALING
WITH A SUPERSTORM HURRICANE LIKE
ANDREW OR EVEN --
BRIAN: WHAT SOOD OUT TO YOU
PROSECUTE RECOVERY OF THAT CITY?
HOW’D IT GO?
>> IT WENT EXCEPTIONALLY WELL
BECAUSE THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY
WAS FUNCTIONING IN A DIFFERENT
WAY THAN IT FUNCTIONS NOW.
THEY POURED MONEY IN THERE,
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS CAME TO
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY THAT ALLOW THE
COUNTY AND THE CITY TO RECOVER
RELATIVELY QUICKLY.
IT STILL TOOK YEARS, BUT
RELATIVELY QUICKLY.
THE INSURANCE SYSTEM IN FLORIDA
AND AROUND THE HURRICANE COAST
IS PRECARIOUS NOW, TO SAY THE
LEAST, AND IT’S REALLY POOR
INSURANCE COMPARED TO WHAT WE
HAD THEN.
SO THE SAME STORM, THE SAME
SITUATION, YOU KNOW, IN THE
MODERN WORLD WITH THE CURRENT
INSURANCE SYSTEM ECONOMICALLY
WOULD NOT BE THE SAME.
DIFFERENT SITUATION.
BRIAN: SO TELL US HOW WE CAN
WATCH THIS AND TELL US WHAT
YOU’RE MOST EXCITED ABOUT WHEN
IT COMES TO THE DOCUMENTARY.
>> I WANT PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND
HURRICANE ANDREW, BECAUSE I WANT
THEM TO KNOW THAT THE WORST DOES
HAPPEN.
USUALLY STORMS URN AWAY AND
PEOPLE SAY, OH, THEY ALWAYS WARN
US TOO MUCH.
NO.
THIS WAS A SITUATION WHERE WE
WARNED PEOPLE, AND IT WAS WORSE,
RIGHT IN THAT HAPPENED.
SO WHAT YOU DO IS YOU DOWNLOAD
THE FOX WEATHER APP, AND YOU CAN
CLICK ON THE UPPER RIGHT AND SEE
IT OR IF YOU HAVE ROKU OR AMAZON
FIRE OR ONE OF THE STREAMING
DEVICE, YOU CAN GET THE FOX
WEATHER CHANNEL ON THAT.