Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Pointe à la Hache, Louisiana" in English language version.
Just a year after the election, Plaquemines suffered the worst natural disaster of [Leander] Perez's lifetime, when in September, 1965, Hurricane Betsy ripped across the parish with winds up to 160 miles per hour. Buildings were torn from their foundations and smashed. Then winds forced tidal waves over the Mississippi River levees and over the back levees intended to protect the parish from the Gulf. Oyster beds and citrus groves were destroyed. The Pointe a la Hache ferry was torn from its moorings, blown miles up the river, and set atop the levee. The parish courthouse was flooded, so the commission council held its meetings in Perez's home at Idlewild. Power lines were destroyed, drainage stations wrecked, and hundreds of cattle drowned. Water moccasins infested the area. Nine persons in the parish died.
