Part of the 2002Washing Away series

A few years before the Civil War, one of the most legendary storms to strike the Louisiana coast destroyed Last Island. Each summer, wealthy New Orleanians would take the steamer down to the resort. On Aug. 9, 1856, as hotel guests waltzed away the night, gale winds began whipping outside. The next morning, the guests awoke to a hellish fury.

When the regularly scheduled steamer failed to arrive, vacationers realized they were trapped and that the Gulf would soon sweep over the island.

"The wind blew a perfect hurricane; every building upon the island giving way, one after another, until nothing remained . . . men, women and children were seen running in every direction, in search of some means of salvation," according to Mr. Duperier, an eyewitness quoted in the Aug. 14, 1856, Daily Picayune.

The 1856 hurricane claimed at least 200 lives on Last Island, today a series of islets known by the French name Isles Dernieres.

"At about 4 o'clock, the Bay and Gulf currents met and the seas washed over the whole island . . . no words could depict the awful scene," the Daily Picayune wrote after the storm.