Miss Teen USA 1992 was held in Biloxi as Hurricane Andrew threatened. What happened?
Many firsts happened in August 1992 when the Miss Teen USA beauty pageant was held in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Jamie Solinger was the first contestant from Iowa to ever win the crown in the 10th year of the pageant. Oklahoma and Kansas earned first and second runner-up titles for the first time as well, respectively.
But perhaps the most memorable part of history of the pageant was the presence of Hurricane Andrew. The storm devastated southern Florida on Aug. 24, 1992 as a Category 4 hurricane before moving into the Gulf of Mexico and making landfall in Louisiana.
And the storm forced Miss Teen USA to create and enforce the “hurricane option” for the pageant for the first time, according to The Associated Press archives.
″This is a pretty bad head trip. It’s like having a root canal twice,″ Dick Clark told the audience at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, the AP report says.
Producers taped two winners of the pageant, marking the first time the pageant would announce a winner outside of a live broadcast, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate archives. Solinger and runner-up Angela Logan were filmed as winners to keep the result secret until the Aug. 25 broadcast.
The “hurricane option” would be used again in 1998 because President Bill Clinton gave a live presidential address, according to Wikipedia.
Miss Mississippi Teen Arleen McDonald placed 12th in the 1992 pageant. Actress and model Shanna Moakler, ex-wife of Blink 182 band member Travis Barker, placed in the top 12 while representing Rhode Island.
This story was originally published August 24, 2022 at 9:56 AM.
