A tropical storm developed east of Trinidad and Tobago on August 12, and began moving northwestward.

When the Signal Office was blown down, a fire started which took hold and destroyed several neighboring blocks.

The storm also destroyed two and half miles of railroad track, making communication with Indianola very difficult and complicating rescue efforts.

"[6] In Galveston, Texas, the storm capsized a forty-ton schooner, the Liviona Perkins, killing three crew members.

Five weeks later, in September 1886, another hurricane hit the Texas coast between Brownsville and Corpus Christi.

Following this storm the post office at Indianola was shut down, marking the official abandonment of the town.

With the abandonment of Indianola and the unwillingness of the former residents to rebuild close to shore, Galveston became the most important Texan port until the catastrophic damage wrought there by the 1900 Galveston hurricane led to the rise of Houston as a major port on the Texan coast.