Hurricane Betsy was the 1965 storm that became the first Atlantic tropical cyclone to cause at least $1 billion in damage. Its destruction earned it the nickname “Billion Dollar Betsy.”
Betsy formed in late August 1965 and affected the Leeward Islands, the Bahamas, Florida, and the central United States Gulf Coast. It struck South Florida on September 8 as a major hurricane, crossed into the Gulf of Mexico, strengthened again, and made its final U.S. landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana, on September 9.
The storm’s damage was unusually widespread. Storm surge and high winds devastated parts of southern Florida and Louisiana, while flooding affected New Orleans after levees along the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet failed. Total damage was estimated at roughly $1.43 billion in 1965 dollars, and at least 76 people died across the affected regions.
The milestone refers to nominal, unadjusted dollars, not inflation-adjusted modern costs. That distinction matters: many later hurricanes caused far greater real economic losses. Betsy’s name was retired after the season, another indication of the storm’s exceptional impact.