How was Hurricane Andrew in Tampa?  What was changes after to make homes stronger?

Many of the homes destroyed in Andrew were block homes.

The problem isn’t wood or block, the problem was that the roof’s connection to the top of the walls.

Previously they were toe nailed, because they weren’t worried about an uplifting force on the roof.

Unfortunately, high winds will grab a roof overhang and apply a tremendous upforce on it, literally essentially prying the roof off the house.

The roof trusses are almost always an essential component in holding the top of the walls up. When you pry those trusses off that support is lost AND you are now applying a push / tip force to the walls and the part that counteracts that force (the roof / trusses) are now missing.

The code updates were primarily to put a strap or other type of securing mechanism from the top of the wall over and around the roof truss or other roof member essentially “holding it down” and working to counteract that prying force.

Hurricane Roof Fasteners: https://imgur.com/a/vIPEQhB

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Anyways, the newer apartments are using these new connection types providing plenty of strength.

And a direct strike from a CAt2+ I personally would be getting out of dodge even in a block home with hurricane straps. Safety of myself and family is way more important than “riding it out”.