Hurricane Andrew was the costliest natural disaster to strike the United States, and the strongest hurricane since the 1920s. Andrew permanently changed the landscape by wiping out entire communities and scattering the people who lived in them. At least 20 deaths were directly attributed to the storm. Property damage was calculated into the tens of billions of dollars. We can lessen the impact of such a future event upon people by gaining a greater understanding of the communication patterns that develop among survivors after a hurricane or other natural disaster has passed--particularly, survivors of differing ethnic and cultural backgrounds. By understanding the isolation that these people perceived as a result of the disruption of their physical environment--and then noting their communicative interactions that followed--we may be able to develop more effective strategies to help future victims cope. This article examines nationally circulated newspaper accounts of the actions of members of differing ethnic groups in Dade County, Florida. Narratives studied were taken from nationally-circulated newspapers based in close proximity to the hurricane - damaged area: The Dallas Morning News, The New York Times, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Wall Street Journal. The author examined articles that appeared in the ten days immediately after the storm--between August 25, 1992 and September 3, 1992. Through the analysis and examination of the papers' narratives, the author shows show how the hurricane resulted in de facto social segregation of members of ethnic minority groups. The author shows how members of these minority groups were unable to communicate effectively and have their needs met by rescue and relief workers--and how these people found themselves engaged in conflict as a result of their isolation from effective electronic communication, isolation from the geographic centers of power, and isolation from the financial mainstream within which the ethnic majority competes to obtain services and supplies. By studying the narratives and examining the outcome of the ethnic isolation they identify, it is hoped that we can better understand why people find themselves in conflict after a natural disaster--and what we can do to minimize this isolation and conflict cycle in the future.