Hurricane Donna, the first major hurricane in Florida since the Miami storm of October 1950, was first detected in the tropical North Atlantic on September 2. Donna then travelled for some 2000 miles mostly in a west-northwest direction through the extreme north-eastern Antilles, passing some 70 miles north of Puerto Rico, info the Florida Straits. The center of the hurricane crossed over the middle Florida Keys between 2 and 3 a.m. on the 10th. After keeping a short distance off shore, it reached the coastline again south of Naples and then turned north and northeastward, passing out to sea a short distance north of Daytona Beach. Donna was one of the most destructive hurricanes to affect Florida in modern times. There were 12 fatalities in Florida, attributable either directly or indirectly to the storm. There were 6 deaths by drowning, 4 from heart attacks, 1 in an automobile accident and 1 electrocution. At the time this publication goes to print, it is impracticable to indicate a realistic estimate of the total storm damage. Various authorities have made estimates that range from approximately $36 million to $350 million (in 1960 dollars). In most localities subject to tidal inundation, evacuation either to the area outside or to designated places of refuge was 90 to 95 percent. Thus the loss of life per unit damage was the least of any major hurricane ever affecting Florida.

Storm damages ranged from very severe on the middle Keys and on the southwest coast from Everglades City to Punta Gorda to relatively minor at northeast Florida points north of the storm track. Damage and rainfall, in general, were significantly greater and noticeable farther from the center on the right side of the track than on the left. Damages by wind and tide on the Keys ranged from almost complete destruction of all but the most substantial buildings in the Marathon-Tavernier area to loss of roofs, broken windows, water damages and battered boats and dock facilities at other points throughout the Keys. The Overseas Highway was overflowed by the storm tides at a number of places, and the road completely disappeared at bridge approaches at several points. The pipeline supplying the Keys with fresh water was broken in at least five places requiring water to be brought in by truck or boat. Tides at Tavernier were reported to be about eighteen inches lower than those associated with the famous Labor Day 1935 storm on the Keys. Preliminary surveys indicated that at certain points, tides probably reached at least 12 feet above mean low water. Tides in the Everglades City-Naples-Ft. Myers Beach area were estimated 4 to 7 feet above normal and perhaps even higher in some places. At Naples, tides pushed inland to the center of the city damaging buildings and smashing docks all along the intrusion. Everglades City, a town that had been largely evacuated, was also inundated by tides and about 50% of the buildings in that city were destroyed by tides and winds. Tides farther north were progressively lower as the winds in advance of the storm center were offshore on the Gulf coast and the center itself was travelling over land. On the gulf coast north of Bradenton and on the Atlantic coast north of the Palm Beaches, tides were mostly 1 to 3 feet above normal and tide damage was relatively minor. Tides in the Miami-Miami Beach ran mostly 2 to 4 feet above normal and tidal flooding in this area was not a major contributor to the over-all damage.

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On August 10, a cyclonic circulation was noted northeast of the Leeward Islands with tropical storm force winds.Reconnaissance aircraft found the tropical storm the next day, which had not increased in intensity. On the night of the 11th, the system turned northeast and rapidly intensified. By the 12th, Diane was a major hurricane, though its eye was elongated elongated significantly to the northeast, possibly due to its northeast propagation around a nearby upper cyclone. Its cyclonic path ended on the 13th, when Diane resumed its west-northwest track. It slowly turned northwest, striking near Wilmington, North Carolina on the 17th. Floods in New England led to Diane becoming the first hurricane with $1 billion in damage, with about 200 eople losing their lives in the flood from Pennsylvania east-northeast through southern New England. The rainfall map below for Hurricane Diane was created by Paul Kocin.

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