cyclone made landfall about 20 mi (30 km) west-southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, with winds of . Andrew weakened rapidly as it turned to the north and northeast, falling to tropical storm intensity within 10 hours. After entering Mississippi, the cyclone deteriorated to tropical depression status early on August 27. Accelerating northeastward, the depression began merging with the approaching frontal system, and by midday on August 28, Andrew had lost its tropical identity while located over the southern Appalachian Mountains. The storm's remnants continued moving towards the northeast, fully merging with the remnants of Hurricane Lester and the frontal zone over the Mid-Atlantic, in Pennsylvania, on August 29. Post-analysis on Andrew revealed that the storm was often stronger than operationally reported between early on August 22 and early on August 26. In real time, the National Hurricane Center assessed its peak intensity as , which was upgraded to 155 mph (250 km/h) in a post-storm analysis after the season ended. However, a 2004 paper by Christopher Landsea and others concluded that Andrew became a Category 5 hurricane near the Bahamas on August 23 and reached maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h). The paper also indicated that Andrew briefly re-intensified into a Category 5 hurricane around the time of landfall in South Florida early on August 24. The storm was found to have been slightly stronger than originally assessed while approaching Louisiana, but the landfall winds were decreased from 120 mph (195 km/h) to 115 mph (185 km/h). Preparations Bahamas Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, who took office while the storm was active, urged residents to "take this hurricane seriously". Before the hurricane passed through the Bahamas, forecasters predicted a storm surge of up to , as well as up to of rain. On August 22, hurricane watches were issued from Andros and Eleuthera islands northward through Grand Bahama and Great Abaco. They were upgraded to hurricane warnings later that day, and on August 23, additional warnings were issued for the central Bahamas, including Cat Island, Exuma, San Salvador Island, and Long Island, Bahamas. All watches and warnings were discontinued on August 24. Advance warning was credited for the low death toll in the country. A total of 58 shelters were opened at churches, government buildings, and schools. Florida Initially, forecasters predicted tides up to above normal along the east coast of Florida, near the potential location of landfall.