Rescuers administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to flood victim Hurricane Donna sent ten-foot tides through three of New York's boroughs Even the largest urban areas are not immune to nature's ravages. New York, New York September, 1960. Hurricane Donna in the 1960 Atlantic hurricane season was a Cape Verde-type hurricane which moved across the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispanola, Cuba, The Bahamas, and every state on the East Coast of the United States. Hurricane Donna holds the record for retaining major hurricane status (category 3 or higher) in the Atlantic Basin for the longest period of time. For nine days, September 2 to September 11, Donna consistently had maximum sustained winds of at least 115 mph.