After Andrew, insurers are better prepared.

Hurricane Andrew's devastating destruction in Florida in 1992 spurred a sea change within the industry that insurers are benefiting from today as it begins the cleanup of Hurricane Charley.

Bill Bailey, special counsel to the Insurance Information Institute who was in hard-hit Punta Gorda, Fla., and who spent 15 months helping storm victims after Hurricane Andrew, said Charley's worst damage is every bit as bad as Andrew's. But Charley's destruction was more focused than Andrew's and damage wasn't as widespread. Punta Gorda, where the hurricane did its most harm, had a large number of trailer parks, which were "ripped to shreds," leaving pieces of aluminum strewn along the streets, he said. In the downtown area, Bailey saw a three-story hotel with a roof that peeled off like a banana that reminded him of Andrew's destruction.

But despite the large amount of destruction from Charley, the insurance industry is much better prepared for a hurricane of Charley's size and intensity than it was when Andrew hit in 1992. Lessons learned by insurers affected how they now deal with claims adjusting, how they set their rates and deductibles and how they improved construction codes.

"With all of the changes that have taken place from real-life examples set by Andrew, the market is far more capable of absorbing the storm," said William Stander, regional manager for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.