University of Miami - Ibis Yearbook (Coral Gables, FL)

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1 8 Features Br lisA J. Human hen Hurricane Andrew devastated South Dade County on August 24, 1992, the suffering of the community was mirrored in the lives of the UM students and faculty who lived in the storm-torn areas. A year later, some continue the struggle to rebuild. For sophomore Katie Remmen, the effects of the storm are still a fresh memory. Remmen is one of the Homestead residents whose life was a nightmare-come-true after the storm. She still lives in a trailer parked in front of what used to be her house. Remmen vividly remembers the events which led to the destruction of her home. iiWe had to run from room to room during the storm? she said. iiThe doors were rattlin g and we could feel the pressure. My ears were popping and it sounded like a train outside? Remmen said her father went outside during the eye of the storm, to survey the damage. When he saw the patio and garage roof gone, he had his family run to the neighbors home. ilIt happened so fast? Remmen said. iiThe neigh- bors we were with lost their house too. We ran to the bathroom when the walls came in. There were several of us in the bathroom with one dog and one cat? Remmen said her father is rebuilding the family home himself. iiHe always wanted to build his own house. Maybe now it will get done right? Two friends of her family died that day in Homestead: a 12-year-old girl who was hit in the head by a piece of wood in her home and a 60-year-old man who suffered a heart attack. Alter Andrew In the storm's wake, students piece together homes, lives Despite the loss of more than 75 percent of her possessions, iTve really grown from the experience? Remmen said. lillve learned how much I love my family? Graduate Suscia Bathgate lived through a similar experience. Her family, including a 5-month pregnant sister-in-law, spent the hurricane in the bathroom of their South Dade home. She too lost everything in the storm. It was like a bomb had gone off, but there were no bodies and no blood, Bathgate said. The rebuilding process wasn't made any easier by builders who lost the plans to her home and contracters who didn't get the job done. It wasn't until three days before the hurricane's one-year anniversary that she was able to move back into her home. The recovery effort brought its share of both benevolent volunteers and dishonest businessmen to the damaged neighborhoods. Senior Mercy Verazain learned about post-Andrew con artists firsthand. Her family gave a private roofer a deposit to buy supplies and he left town with the money. liHe just split? Verazain saidfiPeople just tried to make money after the storm. Iim not angry, just dis- turbed. You have to be on your toes and you canit trust anybody? Even though Verazain was able to move back into her Kendall home in December, her house is still unable

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Chimpanzee expert I Playwright Edward Albee, author of Whohs Afraid of Virginia Woolf; and A Delicate Balance l A. Leon Higginbotham, Chief Judge emeritus of the US. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and author of In the Matter of Calor: Race and the American Legal Process - The Colonial Period I Dr. Edward W.D. N orton, founder and Chair- man emeritus of UMhs Bascom Palmer Eye Institute I Otis Pitts, Jr., a former Miami police officer named by President Bill Clinton to head a multi-year, $1 billion plan to help South Dade County after Hurricane Andrew photo by J.C. Ridley More than 2,300 students said their farewells to UM on graduation day. l UM graduate and international pop music star Gloria Estefan, who was instrumental in helping raise money for rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Andrew Features 1 7

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to pass a Dade County building inspection. Verazain, who weathered the storm with her family dog in the bathroom, said she is still luckier than many others who suffered from Andrew. tISome people in Homestead and Cutler Ridge still donIt have homes? Verazain said. ttThey are the city's first priority? Despite the destruction wrought by Andrew, some students managed to come out ahead. Senior Karen Samole lost a Kendall home but gained a fiance. III spent the storm with my family in the hall- way? Samole said. IIThe front door blew in, the win- dows broke and we had water up to our ankles. It was hell. I thought I was going to die? IA family friend had asked if I wanted to move in with his family after the storm and sleep on the couch. I said yes. We started dating afterwards and we got married in November? she said. Samole has learned to look at the bright side. IIIf it werenit for Andrew, we wouldnit have gotten mar- ried? she said. photos by J.C. Ridley UM graduate Suscia Bathgate, top and left, had to start from scratch when Hurricane Andrew flattened her South Dade home. It was like a bomb had gone off except there were no bodies and no blood. Features 1 9