be cut off by the hurricane's storm surge. A permanent off-shore drilling platform offshore of Galveston, Texas was brought back to shore. Schools along the coast of Louisiana including Nicholls State University and Tulane were suspended in anticipation of the hurricane. In Jackson, Mississippi, a federal disaster office was opened to coordinate preparation and relief efforts for Mississippi. The United States Atomic Energy Commission delayed a detonation of a nuclear bomb in the Tatum Salt Dome near Hattiesburg. The United States Navy scrammed planes from its air stations in Meridian, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana in anticipation of Hilda. Effects Gulf of Mexico The motor ship Cornelia B III, carrying a truck on deck, encountered Hilda's rough surf and winds as it traversed the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in the truck being washed overboard. As Hilda tracked northward through the Gulf of Mexico, the storm threatened an estimated $350 million worth of offshore oil drilling facilities. Hilda would become the most destructive tropical cyclone to Louisiana's offshore oil industry at the time of its impact, accruing losses over $100 million. Strong winds and heavy surf destroyed thirteen oil platforms and damaged five beyond repair. All but one of the lost oil rigs were built to withstand a "25-year storm", with the other constructed to withstand a "100-year storm". Oil spills resulting from the affected rigs released 11,869 barrels of crude oil into the gulf. Despite widespread evacuation of offshore drilling platforms, the 14 crewmembers of the Ocean Driller managed to ride out the storm, at times withstanding winds as high as . United States Gulf Coast Louisiana The majority of deaths associated with Hilda in Louisiana were a result of tornadoes spawned by the hurricane in its outer peripheral rainbands and squall lines, which began tracking across the region on October 3. Six tornadoes and two waterspouts occurred in Louisiana due to the hurricane. Despite tracking for only near Larose, Louisiana, a violent F4 tornado killed 22 people and injured 165 others, destroying 35 homes in the process. Automobiles in the path of the twister were also damaged. Debris picked up by the tornado was found away in the Coteau-Bayou Blue area, or 3 miles east of Houma. This was the second of only two violent tornado ever spawned by a hurricane with the first one coming from Hurricane Carla in 1961. No other tornado in the state resulted in