Hurricane Danny (1985)

Danny formed near Grand Cayman on August 12, 1985, and came ashore in Louisiana near the Cameron and Vermilion Parish line, at Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge, around 11:30 a.m. CDT (1630 UTC) on August 15.^1,2 It was a Category 1 hurricane at landfall with 80-knot (92 mph) winds and a 987 mb pressure.²

Tides of 5 to 8 feet flooded the coastline and low-lying communities of Pecan Island, Intracoastal City, Delcambre and Cypremort Point, and the highest water level found was 7.9 feet at Old Vermilion Locks.¹ Across southwest, central and south-central Louisiana, wind damaged roofs, plate glass, mobile homes and lighter structures and toppled signs and billboards.¹ Lafayette Regional Airport measured a 57 mph gust and Lake Charles a 52 mph gust.^1,2 Rain of 3 to 6 inches fell across central and southern Louisiana, with 6.16 inches at Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge.¹ In Louisiana, the Red Cross counted 33 single-family homes and 26 mobile homes destroyed and 42 homes and 174 mobile homes with major damage. NHC's report gives an initial property damage estimate there of $17 million to $23 million, about half of it agricultural.²

Danny and its remnants spawned tornadoes from Louisiana to North Carolina, including 34 in northern Alabama, where the Red Cross reported 27 single-family homes and 18 mobile homes destroyed and two deaths.² In South Carolina, tornadoes touched down in Spartanburg, York and Union counties, and the Red Cross reported 3 single-family homes and 21 mobile homes destroyed in the state.^3,2 No one died in Louisiana, and NHC also counted one indirect death near Galveston, Texas.²