Making Hurricanes With Miami's Thunderous 'Wall of Wind'

Hurricane Andrew, in August 1992, brought Floridians abruptly up to date on the sorry state of their building codes. The Category 5 cyclone ripped roofs off with ease and smashed down doors with airborne debris. When the storm finally moved on to Louisiana, more than 125,000 homes in the state lay in waste, victims to a crushing natural disaster that at the time was the costliest (around $27 billion) in history.

Florida's done a lot since 1992 to make sure its buildings are better protected against fierce storms. Hurricane straps are used over clips, doors open outwards and masonry components are glued together with concrete. But when we're talking about a fusillade of sustained winds above 155 m.p.h., the definition of a Cat. 5, no amount of caution is enough. That's why on the eve of Andrew's 20th anniversary, researchers in Miami have rolled out an $8 million hurricane-simulation machine known as the "Wall of Wind."