Hurricane Betsy – Image

Hurricane Betsy - Image

Path of the “Great West Indian Hurricane of 1915.” This hurricane made landfall at Grand Isle as a Category 4 storm. It brushed St. Charles Parish as a Category 2 hurricane, but the small settlements of Frenier and Ruddock along Lake Pontchartrain in St. John Parish were washed away by the wind and water. Many lives were lost. Twelve miles of Illinois Central double tracks were destroyed. Six thousand men were put to work to restore rail services. (Source: Frenier Beach Hurricane Storm Surge Revisited by Samuel P. Landry, Jr. P.E.)