After ravaging several Caribbean islands and parts of Florida, Hurricane Donna hit Long Island on Sept. 12, 1960, causing widespread power outages and nearly $2 million in damages.
Playwright José Rivera was only 5 at the time, having just moved the year before with his family from Puerto Rico to Ronkonkoma. He doesn’t remember a lot about the storm, but it clearly made an impression. The hurricane is the epicenter of his play “The Hours Are Feminine,” which EastLine Theatre will produce Sept. 20-Oct. 5 at the BACCA Arts Center in Lindenhurst to mark Hispanic Heritage Month , which began on Monday and ends Oct. 15.
The raging storm comes near the end of the play, and “it destroys everything,” Rivera said in a recent phone interview. The play, set in Ronkonkoma, centers on two fami