were direct fatalities, while 29 were indirectly caused by the storm. It was later noted that if Andrew had been slightly larger or made landfall a few miles further north, it would have significantly affected Miami and Fort Lauderdale, which would have resulted in an even higher damage and death toll. An analysis by the American Meteorological Society indicated that unlike most hurricanes, wind damage from Andrew was mostly north of the geometric center and occurred primarily on the eastern edge of the storm. Some officials in Florida considered Andrew the worst storm in the state since the Labor Day hurricane in 1935. But most others (particularly the media, former National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield) in retrospect stated that Andrew was hardly "The Big One", but still very devastating. The storm surge from Andrew was very limited in its overall coverage due the compactness of the hurricane, although it caused between $96 million and more than $500 million in losses to boats and buildings, based on various sources. At the height of the storm, more than 1.4 million people lost electricity and another 150,000 were without telephone service. It is estimated that throughout Florida, the storm damaged 101,241 homes and destroyed approximately 63,000 others – the vast majority in Dade County – with about 175,000 people rendered homeless. Smaller tropical cyclones like Andrew or Charley tend to produce less overall coverages and damages from the storm surge, in contrast to hurricanes such as Hugo, Ike, Ivan, and Katrina. In addition to homes, the storm damaged or destroyed 82,000 businesses, of farmland, 31 public schools, 59 health facilities/hospitals, 9,500 traffic signals, of power lines, and 3,000 watermains. Approximately 20 million cubic yards (15 million m3) of debris left by the storm were disposed of. Tides were generally between above normal in the Biscayne Bay area, though near the Burger King International Headquarters, tides reached as high as above normal. Storm surge on the west coast was widespread but generally light, with a peak height of in Everglades City and Goodland. Strong winds from the storm were confined to a relatively small area, stretching from Key Largo to the Miami Beach area. A house near Perrine initially reported a wind gust of before the structure and instrument were destroyed; this measurement was reduced to , after wind-tunnel testing at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University of the same type of