The Last Island hurricane strikes Louisiana, resulting in over 200 deaths.

The 1856 Last Island hurricane was a deadly and destructive tropical cyclone that is tied with 2020's Hurricane Laura and 2021's Hurricane Ida as the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the U.S. state of Louisiana, as measured by maximum sustained winds. The first known tropical cyclone of 1856 Atlantic hurricane season, it was observed first as a minimal hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico near Dry Tortugas on August 9. Moving northwestward, the cyclone quickly intensified into a strong Category 4 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson scale by the following day. Late on August 10, the hurricane made landfall on Last Island, Louisiana, with winds at 150 mph (240 km/h), hours before striking near New Iberia. The system rapidly weakened after moving inland, falling to tropical storm intensity on August 11. The storm would be last noted over Mississippi on the next day.

Louisiana is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25th in population, with roughly 4.6 million residents. Reflecting its French heritage, Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties, making it one of only two U.S. states not subdivided into counties. Baton Rouge is the state's capital, and New Orleans, a French Louisiana region, is its most populous city with a population of about 363,000 people. Louisiana has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the south; a large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River.