Hurricane Betsy
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Hurricane Betsy was the first tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Basin to cause at least $1 billion (1965 USD) in damage.  It was the third tropical cyclone, second named storm, and second hurricane of the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season.  Betsy entered into the Gulf of Mexico and re-strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane on September 9. While approaching the Gulf Coast of the United States, Betsy peaked slightly below the threshold for Category 5 hurricane status. However, further intensification was halted after Betsy made landfall in Grand Isle, Louisiana later on September 9.

Betsy resumed intensification over the eastern Gulf of Mexico and became a Category 4 hurricane again by early on September 9. Shortly thereafter, the storm turned northwestward and began approaching the Gulf Coast of the United States. While located 45 miles south of the Mississippi River Delta at 0000 UTC on September 10, Betsy attained its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph and a minimum barometric pressure of 941 mbar. A few hours later, the storm made landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana at the same intensity.

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 damage 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". Eight offshore oil platforms were destroyed during Betsy, 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.

Hurricane Betsy slammed into New Orleans on the evening of September 9, 1965. 110 mph winds and power failures were reported in New Orleans. 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 (210 km/h) to 140 mph were reported. The Baton Rouge weather bureau operated under auxiliary power, without telephone communication^.   Around 1 am, the worst of the wind and rain was over.

Reverend Alfred Lawless was born in Thibodeaux, Louisiana on July 16, 1872. He attended Straight University in New Orleans from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1900 and Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1902. In 1904, he founded Beecher Memorial Congregational Church. In August 1913, he became principal of Fisk Colored School, the first public school in New Orleans to provide modern instructional equipment and adult education classes to African Americans. Lawless became the Superintendent of Negro Congregational Churches in the South in 1917. Reverend Lawless died in Atlanta on September 9, 1933 and is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. The Lawless Memorial Chapel on Dillard University's campus is named in his honor. (NOPL)

Earl Humphrey, born in New Orleans on September 9, 1902, was an American jazz trombonist. He was the brother of noted New Orleans jazz players Willie Humphrey and Percy Humphrey. Earl Humphrey learned to play trombone from his grandfather, and joined a traveling circus with his father in 1919. He traveled widely in the 1920s, and in 1927 recorded with Louis Dumaine. He played through the 1930s but retired to Virginia in the 1940s. In 1963 he returned to New Orleans, where he was urged to resume his musical career. He joined his brother Percy's band and played on a few albums, including Jazz City Studio. He recorded his first sessions as bandleader in the mid-1960's; Igor's Imperial Orchestra (1966) and Earl Humphrey & His Feetwarmers (1967) on the Center label. Earl died at his home in New Orleans on June 26, 1971 at the age of 68. (WIKI)

Street Name Changes
September 9, 1909
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Several New Orleans street names were changed or created on this day in 1909.  The former Julia Street in Lakeview, from the Greenwood Cemetery line to West End Boulevard, was renamed West End. Kennedy Place wa created from a square bounded by Ursuline, Bell, Lopez and Rendon Streets.

Hurricane Katrina Aftermath
Friday, September 9, 2005
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