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vn rue aernrng or atpcmtr b, severe wirricsn* iwtsy A»v«d w*Btw.rd at about lv aiLe> an hour across che Upper Key*. Cales extended 300 mile* to all quadrant* from th* center. The large eye, about 40 nllea in dlaoecer, moved over Key l^rgo about 3:45 ESI. the lowest pressure of 953 tabs, or 28.14 inches v*i recorded on Plantation Key. Hint speeds reached 100 to 140 mph geDen froo Hcmc» te ad southward through the Keys. Rainfall was fro* 4 us 6 laches In Che arcs of strong Minds with rainfall mount a diminishing rapidly vlth distance from the ttetx center.
Two tornadoes were reported in Florida In conn*ctloQ with Hurricane Betsy. One tornado occurred at Punt* Cerda
(23 toll**	north northwest of Fort Myers), at 4:30 Bl EST on September	S. The other	tornado, 4	miles north of Port	Walton	Beach
(JO miles	east of Pensacola) , at 4:05 TO EST on September 9 destroyed	a aarlna	with	12 boat*.
B*tsy had mcv«d through tha Florida Keys sod Into the Gulf of Mexico by 11 AM CST 5epteuber 6. Air Force reconnaissance and th< Miami and Key West radar reports indicated th* stem was moving west and by aarly afternoon it had Increased in speed frcn 12 tt 15'mil«e an hour. Hsvy reconaalssauce Indicated chat the atom was also intensifying with a central pressure of 28.00 inches. Dry lortugaa reported westerly winds of 120 Biles an hour during the afternoon	when	the canter	passed to the north	of the	statl<
Hurricane	warnings were lowered over the Florida Peninsula at 5:00 PM	EST. At	that	tine Betay	was centered at 25.4* Horth
Latitude and £3,1 West Longitude or 105 Biles vest northwest of Key West.
Air Force acid Harvy reconnaissance planet fol lwed the * tom very closely sending report* on the eye location every 2 to 3 hours it passed through the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Hexlco. I<attd bated coastal radar (Hew Orleans and the Naval Air Station, Pensacola) picked up the storm center at noon EST Septeaber 9 about 225 miles south of Mobile, Alabama. These reports Lndlc«te< a graduBl change In direction from west northwest to northwest and s corresponding increase In forward speed from 17 to 22 mll*J an hour by 9 PM EST on Septeaber 9.
At 8 fH EST September 8, a Hurricane Hatch »« advised for the area frco the aouth of the Mississippi River westward Co Hatsgor< Bay on the central coast of Texas. Evacuation was recoaaeniied for offshore oil rig installations and it was recoonended that i industrial equipment be secured. Hurricane Harningt were Issued at 7 AH EST September *l from the mouth of tht Mississippi Rivei westward to Calves ton. Texas. The advisory requested that low lying ceit;tl areas should be evacuated as boob as possible and ■ore than 250,000 people heeded the request. At 2 PH EST the area of Hurricane Warnings was extended eastward a* far ** Mobile Ala. The evacuation of the lake front along Lake Pontchartrain was reccnmended by 7:30 PK EST.
As the scorn approached the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi highest winds were estimated at 150 miles an hour, tides were expected to r*ach 6 to 12 feet from the aouth of the Mississippi River eastward to Pensacola, and heavy rain* with local accuaulatlona of 4 to £ inches were forecasted for southeast Mississippi and Louisiana. Tornadoes were forecast for the area within IDO miles	of the coast frod	Biloxi, Mississippi to Apalachicola, Florida on the	advisory	for 5 FK ESI September	9. The
possibility of a	tornado or t»o Id	Southern Mississippi	and Southwest Alabama was also	included	in	the	advlBory for 3 AM EST
Septeaber 10.
By 6 W EST the Grand Isle CoaBt Guard station reported v intis of 70 to 105 miles an hour with gusta to 160 si Lea an hour.
The eye of the storm passed 30 miles to the west of Burwoed, Louisiana, at the mouth of the MlEaissippl K.iver at 9 PM EST on Septeaber 9. At that time, Fllottown, Louisiana reported that winds were gustlng to over 100 mites an hour. Landfall took ple< at 11 Pk EST near Grand Isle on Che Louisiana coast with the barometer	reading 28.00 inches	and	tides	6,9	feet above neon sea
level. By 11:20 PK EST the	winds at Hew Orleans had exceeded 100 »lles an hour and by midnight	the storm	was 35 mlleB southwest
of Hew Orleans.	The winds reached	225 miles an hour at	11:46 PM at which tiae power failed «t the	Sew	Orleans Weather	Bureau
Office and Advisory responsibility	was transferred back	to Kini.
Tides apparently reached 10 to 12 feet above M5L over most of the coastal area east of Grand Isle to the Mississippi coast. Alt the Mississippi coast tides were generally in the 7 to 10 foot rang* and 3 to 6 feet MSI. elsewhere along the Eastern Louisiana coast. The tides at Bay St, Lou Lb along the southeast coast of Alabama were reported as 12 feet above sea level between 1 and 2 AM EST Septeaber 10. The Mississippi River at Sew Orleans rose 10 feet during the height of the storm.
The center pasted over Houma, Louisiana between 1 and 2 AM EST September 10 and * pressure of 28.00 inches and surface winds gustlng to over 130 miles an hour were recorded. The eye toon moved over Tblbodaux with a baroaecrlc reading of 28.02 inches. Setsy had noved 20 alias to the west of Baton Rouge by 5 AM EST with winds of 100 Miles «n hour near the center. The 14 day storm aoved inland acros& loulelana on a northwest to northerly co-urae with the forward speed decreasing to 10 to 15 alles ao hi and the winds diminishing to ?5 miles an hour in squalls by 8 AM EST Septeaber 10. Rapidly losing intensity as it ooved inland It was dewngraded Co s tropical itom by 11 AM EST September 10 «t which time it was located 50 milas northeast of Alexandria, Louisiana. The weakening storm was approaching Heaapbi*, Tennessee by 6 AM EST September 11 and could no longer be followed at < tropical atom.
Heavy rainfall, generally 4 to 7 laches, occurred over aost of	the lower Mississippi and lower Ohio	Valley on	Friday or Saturda;
The total rainfall for Friday, Septeaber 10 ranged from 3 to 5	Inches in Louisiana, Mississippi	and	Arkansas,	Saturday,
September 11 rainfall totals ranged from 2 to 4 inches in western Mississippi and Tennessee, Eastern Arkansas, Southern Illinoi »nd Indiana and Western Ohio. Sunday, September 12 the total rainfall caused by the remnants of Betsy ranged from 1 to 2 lnchei in Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania,	Northern Virginia, and Maryland.
Hurricane Betsy moved across Louisiana, two tornadoes occurred. One tornado struck Theodore	(10	miles southwest of Mobil*),
lsbama, about taidnight on	Septeaber 9. The other tornado occurred 6	cities west of Ualnut	(50	miles	north northwest of Tupelo)
iasisslppl, at 6:30 FW on	September 10, destroying one residence.
"rricans Betsy was the moat destructive of record on the Louisiana coast. Although the coastal ares wse 90S evacuated with 1/ f a Billion people having evacuated their homes, the first estimate indicates 53 deaths in Louisians. Several communities alo ,b* Mississippi River below Hew Orleans were wiped out by wind and water. Approximately 1,000 homes were destroyed and 150,000 homes will require major or jninor repairs. Thera was considerable damage to the sugar cane, cotton, rice and pecan cropB in Louisiana, Mississippi, Southern Alabama and Arkansas, Oil and utility conpany Losses will be high in Souchern Louisian*. H amages *re severe along the coast of Mississippi and in Southeastern Louisiana including the mouth of the Mississippi, the Del re a, New Orleans, Pontchartrain Lake area and Baton Rouge. It la felt that total losses in these areas may range between one alf and one billion dollars.