Tag: Hurricane Betsy

The Beginning of St. John the Baptist Parish

Another Sunday, another parish celebration. The Territory Legislature established St. John the Baptist parish two hundred and twelve years ago today, easier known as March 31, 1807. It includes the third oldest settlement in Louisiana. Germans primarily settled in this area. The French controlled the land until 1763 when they lost the Seven Years’ War to Great Britain. They ceded Louisiana to Spain at that time. In North America History, the war is known as the French and Indian War.

In the mid-1760s, the French were expelled from Nova Scotia by the British. The French Arcadians settled in St. John the Baptist parish. Their first village is known as Wallace, Louisiana today. The transplanted Arcadians are the ancestors of today’s Cajun folk.

In 1869 a church was built on the east banks of the Mississippi River. The west bank already had St. John the Baptist. In 1897, a second church on the east bank was built, St. Peter. This church stood until 1965 when Hurricane Betsy hit Louisiana. The hurricane also ruffed up Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure in the fictional town of Bayou Cove.

History doesn’t write itself, but what fun it is to learn about the great state of Louisiana. Learn more about St. John the Baptist parish here and here.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book is open on my Kindle. I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read a variety of authors and topics. Currently, I’m reading The Circus Fire by Stewart O’Nan.

The 1915 Hurricane

This weather event did not happen in my book. But, I’m positive Bill overheard his father Woodrow and his Uncle Eustace talk about it. An unnamed category 3 hurricane hit Grand Isle, Louisiana on September 29, 1915. Grand Isle is due south of New Orleans, as the crow flies. Overland, you have to travel northwest along Louisiana 1 through Lockport and Mathews to US 90. Then east to the Big Easy. While in the Gulf of Mexico, the winds rated the hurricane a category 4.

The storm caused thirteen million dollars in damage and killed 275 people. The damage total is in 1915 dollars and is not adjusted for today’s inflation rate. In 1915, ships in the path of the storm were the only way to get meteorological data. Satellites in the sky tracking the storm weren’t imaginable back then. The storm began outside the primary shipping lanes, making early data hard to pinpoint. When it reached the Gulf and aligned itself with the shipping lanes, the data poured in. In the afternoon of September 29, the rising storm surge inundated the low-lying lands of Louisiana and areas next to Lake Pontchartrain. Western New Orleans flooded. Flood waters remained for up to four days in some areas. The surge of water crested between fifteen and twenty feet, a record for the region.

1915 Hurricane Car Barn

The high winds damaged almost every building in New Orleans. They demolished part of the French Market. The storm destroyed over 8000 telephone poles. The Presbyterian Church on Lafayette Square collapsed. The clock at the St. Louis Cathedral stopped at 5:50 p.m. The Times-Picayune building was damaged. In Leeville, only one house survived the storm. Winds blew down telephone wires in Morgan City. Many oyster boats sustained damaged in Plaquemines Parish, crippling the local economy. This was the deadliest hurricane to hit Louisiana until Betsy came along in 1965. Read about it in The Violent Mood Swings of Hurricane Betsy chapter in Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure.

For more information on this unnamed hurricane, click here.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book is open on my Kindle. I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read a variety of authors and topics. Currently, I’m reading the Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series. I finished reading The Hermit of Eyton Forest. My review is on Goodreads and Amazon. Next week I’m moving on to book fifteen, The Confession of Brother Haluin.

Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure is available on Amazon, as an eBook, and in physical formats. It is also available on the Barnes and Noble website.

Hurricane Betsy

Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure survived two physical hurricanes, Audrey and Betsy. Audrey hit Louisiana’s Cameron Parish in 1957. Betsy made landfall in 1965. Today is the 53rd anniversary of Hurricane Betsy thrashing New Orleans. The storm moved northwest and affected Baton Rouge, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois. While the storm passed near Bayou Cove, Bill had a heated exchange with a ghost that resembled Ariel, his dead fiancé.

Hurricane Betsy began as a tropical depression on August 27 north of French Guinea. It passed north of the Bahamas, then over south Florida on September 8. In the Gulf of Mexico, Betsy strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane. Hurricane Betsy breached the New Orleans levees. Flooding occurred in Gentilly, the Upper Ninth Ward, and the Lower Ninth Ward. The further north it moved, the less damage occurred. The remnants lasted until September 13 and dissipated over Pennsylvania. In the end, officials estimated Betsy accounted for $1.43 billion in damage. It was the most expensive hurricane at the time. A total of 81 people, mostly from Louisiana, died from Hurricane Betsy. The United States Weather Bureau retired the name Betsy from the hurricane roster.

Hurricane Betsy sunk several barges on the Mississippi River. One of the barges was MTC-602. It was loaded with 600 tons of deadly chlorine gas in cylinders. It was estimated that amount of chlorine could kill 40,000 people. It sunk near Baton Rouge. Navy and Army engineers were tasked by President Johnson to raise the barge and prevent another disaster. On November 12, 1965, the barge, and all the intact cylinders were removed from the river.

Bill had to get three new travel trailers for his employees. He also replaced the siding on the house of pleasure. It didn’t take long for him to open back up and make money again.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book is open on my Kindle. I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read a variety of authors and topics. Currently, I’m reading the Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series. I finished The Rose Rent as well as Ghosts of Arkansas Highway #7 by Gary Weibye. My reviews for both books are on GoodReads.com. Tomorrow, I start reading book 14 of Brother Cadfael, The Hermit of Eyton Forest.

Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure is available on Amazon, as an eBook, and in physical formats. It is also available on the Barnes and Noble website.