Last week, WLRN premiered part of its “Remembering Andrew” radio documentary Thursday to an audience at Miami Science Museum.

Bryan Norcross was an invited guest.  Norcross, of course, became famous for his ongoing coverage of and guidance during the storm.

During a panel discussion following the airing of the first part of the special, Norcross talked about his memories of the people he talked to during the storm and the region’s struggles afterward.

Norcross also had a warning for the audience. He said many things have changed since that massive 1992 hurricane.  Back then people relied on their transistor radios and battery-powered TVs to get information, Norcross said.

After Hurricane Andrew, ice became a precious commodity and a flashpoint of conflict.

Power was out, food was spoiling/rotting, and federal aid hadn’t arrived yet.

Deborah Gray Mitchell spent those first sticky days cleaning up debris outside her home in Belle Meade.

My friend brought us this gallon jug of ice, and in that gallon jug where it had melted a little bit was a little bit of water that that we could use to whet our whistle. It was just the most refreshing, happiest moment of my life to have a nice, cold drink of water.

Ed McClean didn’t have air conditioning at his house in the Redlands for 100 days.  So he used ice.

Throughout the course of reporting the Remembering Andrew series we’ve been asking a few of the same questions about Hurricane Andrew to virtually everybody we interview. Things like:

When did you know it was time to take Andrew seriously?

When did you know Andrew had truly arrived?

But there’s one question in particular, that seems to trip people up:

What did you see the moment you stepped out of your door after Andrew?

Here is how some WLRN Miami Herald News listeners answered that question:

You may think you know how you’d react during an emergency.  Andrea Askowitz thought she did.  Then came Hurricane Andrew.

Askowitz one of the co-founders of the Lip Service series in Miami.  During these performances, ordinary people tell true stories about their lives–on stage. Andrea Askowitz brings us her own true story about August 1992.  It’s called “In Case of Emergency.”

You can read the full text of Andrea Askowitz’s personal essay below or listen to the radio version above.