1993 Miracle Yearbook

1992-93 Barcelona Barcelona,Spain,hosted theSum- merOlympicsin1992anditprovedto beabonanzafor theUnited States — a total of108 medals. A record 10,000 athletes, professional and amateur, from 183 countries gathered in this rapidly modernized metropolis nestled between the mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. Carl Lewis maynotmakeittothe nextOlympics -- he'llbe35bythen--buthewontwo gold medals this time, one for long jump and one in the 400 meter relay. And in diving,MaryEllen Clark won the bronze from the 10 meter plat- form. Closing Rioting in Los Angeles During the past two years, much has been said about the Rodney King beating and theLAriotsin 1992. Itallstarted when King was stopped by police, resisted and then was forcefully subdued while it was recorded on video tape. This tape was released to local television stations. This quickly received national attention, and four white officers werecharged in the beating of King,who was black. The first jury found them innocent ofany wrong-doing resultingin threedaysof riotinginLosAngeles. Thisresultedin 52deaths,2,383 people injured,18,807 arrests,and property damage atabout $785 million. Andrew,the Storm that Shook Paradise HurricaneAndrewcarved itswaythrough the Bahamasand hitsouthern Florida with a powerhouse intensity before moving into Louisiana. The hurricane's 54-hour ram- page, the most expensive natural disaster ever to hit this country, left an estimated 180,000 homelessin Florida alone. It was a harrowing time, as tens of thousands of people tried to evacuate the Miamiareaand thousands more rode outthe storm in shel- ters and boarded-up homes. At least 51 deaths were directly attributed to the storm — 41 in Florida and 10 in Louisiana. 'The amount of damage was estimated at $20 billion in Florida and nearly $2 billion in Louisiana.