Hurricane Betsy

Hurricane Betsy was a powerful hurricane of the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season which caused enormous damage in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. Betsy made its most intense landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River, causing significant flooding of the waters of Lake Pontchartrain into New Orleans; at the time it was the costliest hurricane in the history of the United States, and, as the first hurricane to cause over a billion dollars in damages, earned the nickname "Billion-Dollar Betsy".

Storm history

Betsy formed east of the Windward Islands, and moved north through the island chain as a tropical storm, at one point making a complete loop. When it was about 350 miles (560 km) east of Daytona Beach, Florida, and seemed to be on its way to hit the Carolinas, it turned back toward the southwest (making a second complete loop), passing over the Bahamas where winds on Great Abaco Island reached 147 mph (237 km/h). Betsy travelled just north of Nassau, the biggest city in the Bahamas, where it stalled for about three hours, allowing its winds to pound the city.

On September 7, Betsy continued moving toward the southwest toward extreme southern Florida. It passed over Key Largo at the eastern end of the Florida Keys, and then continued west along the Keys, as a Category 3 hurricane. Hurricane-force winds were experienced in the Miami area for roughly twelve hours. At its landfall on Key Largo, Betsy had an exceptionally large eye (40 miles (65 km) in diameter).

After crossing Florida Bay and entering the Gulf of Mexico, Betsy restrengthened, growing into a Category 4 storm with winds up to 155 mph (250 km/h), only one mile per hour short of qualifying for Category 5 status. It continued northwestward, moving into Barataria Bay on the evening of September 9. It made its second U.S. landfall at Grand Isle, Louisiana, just west of the mouth of the Mississippi River, where it destroyed almost every building. At the time of landfall in Louisiana, Betsy was a strong Category 3 storm.^[1] The storm travelled upriver, causing the Mississippi at New Orleans to rise by 10 feet (3 m).

Preparations

The Baton Rouge weather bureau warned residents to get extra food that would not have to be cooked, or with little preparation. They also warned residents to store a water supply, have flashlights or other emergency light sources, and keep them at the ready. In addition, residents were told to fill the gasoline tanks of their cars, and check to make sure their battery powered radios had full charged batteries in them, and to secure any small boats immediately. ^[2]

Impact

Betsy was one of the most intense, deadly, and costly storms to make landfall in the United States. The storm killed 76 people in Louisiana. Betsy caused $1.42 billion in damage, which when adjusted for inflation amounts to $10-12 billion (2005 USD). Betsy was the first hurricane to cause damages in excess of $1 billion (based on damage at the time of the storm - many storms before then have inflation-adjusted damage over $1 billion); the storm thus earned the nickname "Billion-Dollar Betsy".

Gulf of Mexico

Eight offshore oil platforms were destroyed during Betsy, and with others experiencing damage. A Shell oil platform off the Mouth of the Mississippi river was not seen again. The oil rig Maverick, owned by future president George H. W. Bush's Zapata corporation also disappeared during the cyclone. It was insured by Lloyd's of London for US$5.7 million (1965 dollars).^[3]

Louisiana

Hurricane Betsy slammed into New Orleans on the evening of September 9th, 1965. 110 mph winds and power failures were reported in New Orleans. ^[4] The eye of the storm passed to the southwest of New Orleans on a northwesterly track. The northern and western eyewalls covered Southeast Louisiana and the New Orleans area from about 8 pm until 4 am the next morning. In Thibodaux winds of 130 mph to 140 mph were reported. ^[5] The Baton Rouge weather bureau operated under auxiliary power, without telephone communication. ^[6] Around 1 am, the worst of the wind and rain was over.

Unfortunately, Betsy also drove a storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain, just north of New Orleans, and the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, a deep-water shipping channel to the east and south. Levees for the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet along Florida Avenue in the Lower Ninth Ward and on both sides of the Industrial Canal were overtopped and failed. The flood water reached the eaves of houses in some places and over some one story roofs in the Lower Ninth Ward. Some residents drowned in their attics trying to escape the rising waters.

These levee breaches flooded parts of Gentilly, the Upper Ninth Ward, and the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans as well as Arabi and Chalmette in neighboring St. Bernard Parish. President Lyndon Johnson visited the city, promising New Orleans Mayor Vic Schiro federal aid.

It was ten days or more before the water level in New Orleans went down enough for people to return to their homes. It took even longer than that to restore their flooded houses to a livable condition. Those who did not have family or friends with dry homes had to sleep in the shelters at night and forage for supplies during the day, while waiting for the federal government to provide emergency relief in the form of trailers.

In all, 164,000 homes were flooded at the second landfall.

Aftermath

See also: Hurricane preparedness for New Orleans

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Hurricane Protection Program came into existence as a result of Betsy. The Corps built new levees for New Orleans that were both taller and made of stronger material, designed specifically to resist a fast-moving Category 3 hurricane like Betsy. The resulting levee improvements failed when Hurricane Katrina, a large and slow-moving Category 3 hurricane made a near-direct hit on New Orleans on August 29, 2005.

Retirement

See also: List of retired Atlantic hurricanes

Because of the significance of its damage, the Betsy was retired from the recurring list of names for Atlantic hurricanes. It was replaced by the name Blanche for the 1969 season.

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