Paul: First, we need you to say your name, your occupation ...where you work.

Jeffers: Lennox Jeffers, M.D. I’m a professor of medicine at the University of Miami School of Medicine, in the division of hepatology, that is, liver disease.

Paul: What was your initial reaction (to) Hurricane Andrew, when you first realized it was coming ...what was your first reaction to that?

Jeffers: Well, not growing up in the state of Florida, I was not accustomed to hurricanes. Therefore I didn’t know anything about the (need for) preparedness for a hurricane. And my wife Alicia, who is quite aware as to how to prepare for hurricanes ...she got us all started with gathering things to evacuate the area and travel to a safe place. So what I did was, I contacted several hotels in the Orlando area, and we did get a hotel room in Kissimmee...I believe it was at the Hyatt in Kissimmee.

Paul: And what did you anticipate, as the storm predictions got worse, and as Sunday approached ...would be the main problems?

Jeffers: Well, as I said previously, not having been in a hurricane before, I had no idea what sort of devastation, what sort of flooding, and things of that sort would occur. I was really unprepared. I had no idea... I didn’t not even get into any details as far as following the instructions of the various weathermen on TV. I thought it was something that would pass, that it was a warning, but that we would not be hit by the hurricane, basically.

Paul: So, since you weren’t expecting (any problems), what was your reaction when you came back and saw what (the aftermath of a hurricane) actually was like?

Jeffers: Oh, the reaction was overwhelming when I came back. We took the highway down (from Kissimmee), and it was fairly safe getting down to this area (the traffic) was not that congested. But once we approached... the areas that were not so heavily hit, we saw trees down and roofs off. And then we approached our area, and that was very ...overwhelming, in the sense that many of the homes were totally destroyed, all of the traffic lights were disrupted, the streets (were) full of debris (and) trees ...As we got closer to our home, the anticipation was extremely great, as far as wanting to know exactly what our home looked like was it totally destroyed, or was it partially destroyed  because there was a lot of devastation beginning from the first home on our street. So we just looked at home after home, until we got to ours, and felt somewhat relieved that it was not totally destroyed. It’s very hard to recreate the feelings that one has during this time. It was very emotional, very, very, emotional, because we met neighbors that stayed through the course of the hurricane, and they were able to tell us ...whether or not our dog was alive, and things of that sort it was just an overwhelming scene. (There were) a lot of neighbors on the street, and pointing at different areas that were destroyed.

Paul: What kind of things happened during the first week?...How did you react to...trying to get the place (back in order) the first week (after the hurricane)?

Jeffers: Well, we were fortunate that we had friends, a close friend that lived outside of the hurricane (damaged) area. And that allowed us to live in an area that was not damaged. It was partially damaged by the hurricane, but it was mostly (fallen) trees. It was about 25 miles away. So we commuted back and forth to our home. But initially, during the first week, of course, there was no electricity, no running water, and just the massive destruction of the home itself  all of my medical books, furniture ...the vast majority of our belongings were somewhat destroyed or touched by the hurricane. And there was a lot of water damage, particularly to the carpet, and we had to remove the carpet from the floor, which was very, very difficult because of the overwhelming weight of the carpet, which was drenched with rain. So it was total destruction. The structure of the home was somewhat preserved, but the inner parts of the home was unlivable (sic) as such. We had to deal with that, and so we were fortunate to have, again... a friend (to stay with), that we were able to commute back and forth on a daily basis, to come and to a little bit of the work on a day to day basis, until we were able to move back into the home.

Paul: How long was that (period) that you were commuting?

Jeffers: Two weeks.

Paul: What day did you actually come back from Kissimmee?

Jeffers: Two days after Andrew.

Paul: So about Wednesday, then ...After that initial two weed period of moving back and forth  from then, even (up to) now how has the hurricane changed your daily routine? I know there are a lot of ways... just some of the broad areas.

Jeffers: Initially, there was no electricity, so we had to have a generator. We had to purchase a generator, we had to back and forth to obtain gasoline, not knowing how long... the fuel would last. We purchased a generator that had a fuel capacity (to last) about eight hours. So we had to fill it on an eight hour basis. And that provided us (with) electricity, provided us with the refrigeratorand the daily routine was somewhat difficult in the beginning, and still is difficult. However, it improved as the days went on, and we lived in the home until we were able to move into a trailer, and we remained in the trailer for approximately two months. But that in itself was another difficult situation; from living in a home to moving into a trailer was a big change, because it was very confined, small areas to deal with for me, it was somewhat difficult, living in such a closed space. Since we have moved back into the house, to part of the house we have two bedrooms that are now functional, that we can live in, actually it still remains a major problem, in the sense that we don’t have places to invite guests in... the living room/ dining room is still under construction... But day to day, there seems to be an improvement overall in the area. There’s not as much debris in the area, that has been dealt with ...You look around at various homes on the block, and you see that everyone is making headway as far as getting their home (repairs) completed. You actually can see the effects of Andrew on a day to day basis, but it’s decreasing as you go along. But I believe it will probably take about four years, three or four years, for the entire area to be restored completely, (replacing) trees and things of that sort.

Paul: How has all the changing, the remodeling  how has that affected your long range plans? ...Did you plan to remodel before the hurricane hit?

Jeffers: No, we had no plans to remodel. We probably had plans, more or less, to leave, to get a bigger home, probably. But with the hurricane, we did decide to remodel.

Paul: As far as (your daughter) Jocelyn and school ...how did (the hurricane damage) affect her? How did you, as a family, (help her cope with the hurricane), what kind of things took place?

Jeffers: During the first two weeks postAndrew, she remained at our friend’s home, so she did not actually see as much destruction. We cleaned up a lot of the area before we brought her back in here. She’s adjusted quite well to the hurricane, I would say, overall adjusted to the damage of the hurricane. I would say that she’s not able to go out and play with her friends, and some of the people that moved from the area, and things of that sort. So I don’t think it has affected her. It has affected her in the sense that she relates to a lot of the other kids within (her) class who’ve had similar situations. So there are a lot of hurricane victims within her class, because most of her classmates live in this area. So they can discuss the problems of the hurricane, how far along each and everyone of them have come as far as their homes  whether or not it’s completed, or what’s being done to their home, is it being remodeled, and things of that sort.

Paul: She seems pretty excited about the remodeling in general.

Jeffers: Right ...her behavior has not been changed dramatically by the hurricane.

Paul: I guess (I’d like) to move on to some of things (concerning) your work, esp. since you’re at UM ...Do you work at the Doctor’s Hospital?

Jeffers: No, I work at Jackson, the Veterans Administration hospital Cedars. Veterans, Cedars, and Jackson (hospitals). So the actual effects of the hurricane... I would say the number of patients that we saw posthurricane diminished dramatically, and I think that affected the entire medical center. It did not personally affect my income, but the income of the University of Miami Medical Center was affected, critically affected.

Paul: What about physical damage?...That’s on the northern side of Miami, right?

Jeffers: Right ...Within the medical complex, the VA medical center lost a large number of trees, but no other physical damage, per se, to any of the hospitals in that area. I believe at the University of Miami hospital, there was an evacuation ...prior to the hurricane, the patients were evacuated to Cedars or Lebannon Hospital. But there was no physical damage in that area with the exception of some trees on the grounds, that’s it. But the major concern of the hurricane was the economic loss that it brought as a result of the loss of patients ...potential patients or patients who have moved out of the area, and other people in the Broward County/Palm Beach area who were somewhat afraid to come down into the (hurricane damaged) area, because of the congestion and traffic and things of that sort.

Paul: How did that affect the way the hospital functioned, and also I’m interested in how some of you other colleagues, other doctors in the hospital who probably went through the same (hurricane related problems)...how did you see them dealing with the combination of their own homes being destroyed, and having to deal with (the increased pressures at the hospitals)?

Jeffers: A large number of the physicians do live in this area, live in South Dade physicians at the University of Miami and the VA (hospital). And they had similar amounts of damage.

NOTE: The first side of the tape ended here, and because of an error on the interviewer’s part the last half of the interview with Dr. Jeffers was not recorded. Dr. Jeffers went on to specify some of the problems the hospital faced as a result of Hurricane Andrew. He stated that the hardest hit departments, economically, were General Medicine and Surgery, due to lost patients. He also mentioned the 10% pay-cut for medical employees, announced by the University of Miami in the fall of 1992, and stated that many physicians were upset at the news of a drop in income. However, most of the physicians have continued working at the hospitals regardless. He closed by emphasizing the inability to express, in words, how the hurricane experience had truly affected him and his family