Louisiana Hurricane History:
Late 20th Century (continued)


September 9-10th, 1965 (Betsy): Hurricane Betsy, moving unusually fast through the Gulf at forward speeds of 22 mph, came ashore Grand Isle as a major hurricane. Winds gusted to 125 mph and the pressure fell to 28.75" at New Orleans. The sea level pressure there dropped to 28.00" at Grand Isle and Houma. Port Eads gauged winds to 136 mph.

A 10 foot storm surge was produced causing New Orleans its worst flooding in decades... but they were lucky compared to Grand Isle, which saw a 15.7 foot surge on its northern coast and wind gusts to 160 m.p.h.. Wind gusting to 100 mph covered Southeast Louisiana. Winds of hurricane force spread as far west as Lafayette and as far inland as St. Landry parish. Even Alexandria and Monroe saw winds in excess of 60 mph.

Above is a picture of hurricane specialists working Betsy. John Hope (to the left) later went on to work for the Weather Channel in 1982, before retiring in 1997.

Storm surges were seen as far east as Mobile. Hundreds of ships, tugs, and barges were sunk or driven aground from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Following the storm, the levee was elevated to 12 feet by the Orleans Levee Board. Offshore and coastal oil installations, along with public utilities, reported unprecedented damage. Fall crops were in ruins and many livestock drowned. Damage throughout Southeast Louisiana totalled $1.4 billion and 81 lives were lost, 58 of which in Louisiana.

August 17-18, 1969 (Camille): The most intense hurricane known to ever make landfall in the United States also made its mark in Louisiana. The pressure fell to a very low 27.80" on Garden Island. Winds gusted to 125 mph at Slidell, and their pressure fell to 28.75" on the 9th. Almost total destruction was seen from Venice to Buras. Ostrica Lock saw a storm surge of 16 feet. Water overwashed U.S. Highway 90 to a depth of 10 feet. To the left is an image of Camille while it lurked off the Southwest coast of Florida on the 16th, provided courtesy of the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).

September 16th, 1971: Edith, a relatively small hurricane, moved inland that day near Pecan Island. Peak winds at Cameron were 69 m.p.h. with gusts to 96 m.p.h.. The pressure fell to 29.11" at Lafayette as winds gusted to 69 mph. Morgan City saw gusts to 72 mph. A tornado made its mark on Baton Rouge. Storm surges ranged from 5 to 8 feet along the Louisiana coastline... highest in Vermilion and Cote Blanche Bays. Several tornadoes spun up, with the most serious in East Baton Rouge tracking 7 miles. Some damage occurred but Edith caused no deaths across Cameron or Vermilion Parishes. See Texas Hurricane History for more details. 

September 7-8th, 1974 (Carmen): Carmen moved inland just east of Vermilion Bay near Point Au Fer after crossing the Gulf of Mexico as a major hurricane. Winds reached 110 m.p.h. at the Bayou Boeuf oil rig near Ameila, 100 m.p.h. with gusts to 120 m.p.h. at the KROF radio station in Abbeville, and 85 m.p.h. at Morgan City. Damage was mostly due to the sugar crop and offshore oil installations.

Two tornadoes were spawned on the morning of September 8th: One in Franklin at 4 am which destroyed a service station, and another at Kaplan at 9 am. Tides of 4-6 feet above mean sea level went ashore along the coasts of St. Mary, Terrebonne, Lafourche, Jefferson, and Plaquemines Parishes. Bootheville received the most rain: 7.81". Total damages from the hurricane reached $150 million. Three deaths were indirectly associated with Carmen.

1977: Babe developed in the Gulf of Mexico as a Subtropical Storm; relatively rare during the month of September. It moved northward into Southeast Louisiana on September 5th and briefly reached hurricane status prior to landfall. After landfall, the storm finally took on tropical characteristics fully. Wind and water damage occurred in St. Mary, Iberia, and St. Martin parishes. The satellite picture to the left was taken after Babe had moved inland at 9 P.M. CDT on September 6th (courtesy of the National Hurricane Center).

July 11th, 1979 (Bob): Hurricane Bob struck Terrebonne Bay on July 11th. It was a very well behaved storm and was quite predictable in track and strength. Highest storm surge reported was 5.02 ft on the north end of the causeway bridge across Lake Pontchartrain. The pressure fell to 29.28" at Moisant Field, as winds gusted to 44 mph during the storm. One tornado was reported in Slidell. One person died, being blown off his roof as he was nailing it down during the hurricane.    

August 16th, 1985 (Danny): Danny, a minimal hurricane, came ashore near Pecan Island August 16th. In Abbeville, winds gusting to 114 mph blew off the roof of a school. High winds destroyed an airplane hangar in Iowa. Trees were uprooted throughout Southern and Central Louisiana. Thirty-nine tornadoes were spawned throughout the Southeastern United States, most occurred as Danny tracked northeast through Alabama and Tennessee. Only 3 touchdowns were noted across Louisiana.

Storm surges of 8 feet were seen along the coast of South Central Louisiana. Highway 46 near Hopedale in St. Bernard Parish was impassable due to the high waters. The pier at Grand Isle State Park was damaged, while a pier near Slidell was demolished. Coastal erosion was greatest in Terrebonne and Lower Jefferson Parishes. Seven injuries were reported, but no one died in the storm. Six of the injuries were due to the capsizing of a 41 foot sailboat near the Timbalier Islands. Sugar cane and soybean crops were damaged extensively. Total damages were estimated to be near $14 million.

September 2nd, 1985 (Elena): Elena hit the Mississippi shore just east of the Mouth of the Mississippi and was the second of 3 hurricanes to hit the state that season. Many chose to evacuate southeast sections: 400,000 in fact. Elena entered Washington Parish as a Category 1 hurricane and downed numerous trees. Around 15,000 lost power. Massive erosion occurred in the Chandeleurs; 30 to 40 percent of those islands eroded away. To the left is a picture of Elena, from the Space Shuttle Discovery on September 2, 1985.

October 27-31st, 1985 (Juan): Juan looped across Southern Louisiana for several days in late October 1985; highest wind gust recorded at NWS Lake Charles was 49 m.p.h., highest recorded during the month of October since records began in 1939. Ten inches of rain fell across Southwest Louisiana and extreme Southeast Texas, with pockets of over 15 inches near Jennings and Galliano.

Storm surges were 8 feet at Cocodrie. However, this is where the parallels to Danny end. LA 1 south of Leeville and LA 3090 near Fourchon were destroyed. Three bridges were washed out near Lacombe on LA 434. Levees were overtopped in Lockport, Marrero, Oswego, and Myrtle Grove; this added to the already serious flooding. Two hundred cattle were drowned in Terrebonne Parish. Grand Isle was under 4 feet of sea water; 1200 residents were trapped on the island as the storm surge cut off any evacuation attempts early on.

Offshore, things were far worse. An oil rig 35 miles south of Leeville collapsed, then smashed into a neighboring rig while in 20 foot seas and hurricane force winds late on the 27th. The ship Miss Agnes sank during a rescue operation 60 miles south of Morgan City that day. The rig A.M. Howard capsized early on the 29th. The boat Kiwi sank while in the Atchafalaya Bay. This all led to nine lives being lost offshore. Total damages exceeded $300 million and 12 people died in all. Damages from Danny, Elena, and Juan across Louisiana totaled $2.5 billion and 19 people perished.    

June 26th, 1986 (Bonnie): Bonnie, a minimal hurricane, moved ashore just southwest of Sabine Pass on the 26th, then moved northward through East Texas before recurving northeast into Arkansas on the 27th. Some beach property was damaged in Cameron Parish with water damaging coastal roadways in Western Cameron Parish. Five tornadoes were caused by Bonnie in Louisiana; three in DeSoto and Webster Parishes alone, located in the northern section of the state.

At 2 am CST on the 27th, a period of 10-14 hours of heavy rain fell in Northwest Louisiana in Caddo, Bossier, and Northern DeSoto Parishes, causing extensive flash flooding between 5 and 9 am CST. Interstate 20 was under 5 feet of water. US 71 and LA 1 were cut by flash flooding. Flooding alone caused $10 million in damages. Only one person died in the storm, when winds overturned his fishing boat in Cross Lake. See Texas Hurricane History for more on Bonnie. 

September 9th, 1988 (Florence): A coastal trough developed over the Western Gulf of Mexico on September 1st at the tail end of an old frontal zone. It moved into Southeast Louisiana on the 4th, but began drifting south again as a strong high pressure system dived south out of Canada. On the 6th, it had moved southwest into the Western Gulf of Mexico before drifting back to the east on the 7th. It finally developed enough tropical characteristics to be designated a tropical storm, and moved north toward Louisiana.

It rapidly strengthened and became a hurricane before striking Port Eads on the 9th. However, the system had begun weakening as dry air began to intrude into the western portion of the circulation. It became extratropical by the 11th, as dry air continued to wrap around the western semicircle. The low dissipated later that day, as it drifted northwest over Oklahoma.

Highest winds reported were at New Orleans Lakefront Airport, which received a gust to 61 m.p.h.. Lowest pressure noted inland was 29.26" at New Orleans Naval Air Station. Highest rain total with the system was 4.05" near Watson. Significant beach erosion occurred along Grand Isle. Trees were downed, mostly in Orleans Parish. The storm surge flooded LA 300 near Delacroix. Total damages were estimated near $2.5 million.    

To page 3