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Hurricane Andrew
On August 24 1992, Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 hurricane slammed into the
southeastern coast of Florida. It left Miami-Dade County with 22 people dead,
175,000 people homeless, 49,000 dwelling units destroyed, and an additional 36,000
dwelling units seriously damaged. All totaled, Hurricane Andrew created over
$20 billion in damage, making it the costliest storm in U.S. history. This horrific
event proved to be a turning point in GMN's evolution as an organization.
GMN's technical expertise and knowledge about affordable housing development
enabled it to play a key role in Miami-Dade County's rebuilding and recovery
effort. Between 1993 and 1996, GMN assumed the leadership role in the identification,
packaging and development of $85.74 million in affordable housing developments.
GMN accessed over $64.7 million in hurricane recovery funding. With the organization's
significant increase in development capacity and technical expertise, the Board
of Directors determined that it was time to move the GMN to a statewide organization,
with the creation of a sister organization in Tampa/St. Petersburg area called
GMN Enterprise Communities, Inc., later renamed GMN
Gulf Coast. |
