Everything about Hurricane Camille totally explained
Hurricane Camille was the strongest tropical cyclone of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season. The third
tropical cyclone and second hurricane of the season, Camille was the second of three
Category 5 hurricanes to make
landfall in the
United States during the 20th century, which it did near the mouth of the
Mississippi River on the night of
August 17, resulting in catastrophic damage. Camille was the only
Atlantic hurricane with official winds reported to reach 190 mph (305 km/h) until
Allen equalled that number in 1980.
The storm formed on
August 14 and
rapidly deepened. It scraped the western edge of
Cuba at
Category 3 intensity. Camille strengthened further over the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall with a pressure of 905
mbar (
hPa), estimated sustained winds of 190
mph (305
km/h), and a peak storm surge of 24
feet (7.3
m); by maximum sustained wind speeds, Camille was the strongest landfalling tropical cyclone recorded worldwide, and one of only four tropical cyclones worldwide ever to achieve wind speeds of 190 mph (305 km/h). The hurricane flattened nearly everything along the coast of the
U.S. state of
Mississippi, and caused additional flooding and deaths inland while crossing the
Appalachian Mountains of
Virginia. In total, Camille killed 259 people and caused $1.42 billion (1969
USD, $9.14 billion 2005 USD) in damages.
Storm history
A tropical wave left the coast of
Africa on
August 5, becoming a tropical disturbance on
August 9, east of the
Leeward Islands. Aircraft reconnaissance identified a closed circulation in the disturbance on the 14th near
Grand Cayman and the system was designated Tropical Storm Camille with 60
mph (95
km/h) winds.
The storm already had a well organized circulation and rapidly strengthened from
August 14 to
August 15 to a 115 mph (185 km/h) major hurricane before hitting the western tip of
Cuba later that day. Land interaction weakened Camille to a 100 mph (160 km/h) hurricane, but it returned to perfect conditions as it crossed the
Gulf of Mexico (possibly while passing over the
Loop Current). On
August 17, Camille reached an intense minimum central pressure of 905
mbar (
hPa), and it continued to strengthen to a peak of 190 mph (305 km/h) winds (possibly the strongest ever recorded in an
Atlantic hurricane). In the hours before landfall, a reconnaissance aircraft was unable to obtain a surface wind report, but it estimated winds of up to 205 mph (335 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 901 mbar (hPa).
Camille crossed the southeastern tip of
Louisiana, and then hit near
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, on the night of
August 17. Its
Category 5 strength winds are only estimated, due to the lack of wind reports near the center, though the NASA site at
Stennis Space Center near
Picayune, Mississippi, recorded an estimated gust of with a pressure of 950
mbar. It maintained hurricane force winds for 10 hours as it moved inland. As Camille turned east, it weakened to a tropical depression over northern
Mississippi on the 19th. It picked up additional moisture from the Gulf Stream along the way and produced torrential rains in the remote mountains of
Virginia. Camille turned eastward as it moved inland, and emerged into the
Atlantic Ocean near
Virginia Beach, Virginia, on the 20th. The depression restrengthened over the
Gulf Stream, and briefly attained a peak of 70 mph (110 km/h) before becoming extratropical on the 22
nd, east of
Nova Scotia.
Impact
Making landfall as a Category 5 hurricane, Camille caused damage and destruction across much of the
Gulf Coast of the United States. Because it moved quickly through the region, Hurricane Camille dropped only moderate precipitation in most areas. Areas near its point of landfall reported from to . The area of total destruction in
Harrison County, Mississippi was 68 square miles (176 km²). The total estimated cost of damage was $1.42 billion (1969
USD, $9.14 billion 2005 USD). This made Camille the second-most expensive hurricane in the United States, up to that point (behind
Hurricane Betsy). The storm directly killed 143 people along
Alabama,
Mississippi, and
Louisiana. An additional 153 people perished as a result of catastrophic flooding in
Nelson County, Virginia and other areas nearby. In all, 8,931 people were injured, 5,662 homes were destroyed, and 13,915 homes experienced major damage, with many of the fatalities being coastal residents who had refused to evacuate.
Gulf of Mexico
Shell Oil Company measured waves 70-75 feet (21-23 meters) high during this intense cyclone. One of its rigs was lost due to both extreme wave action and a mudslide at the Gulf of Mexico's bottom. The ocean floor in the
Gulf of Mexico's South Block 70 lowered during the hurricane's passage. Property damages to the offshore oil industry totaled US$100 million (1969 dollars).
Gulf Coast and the Caribbean
In
Cuba, the only
Caribbean island greatly affected by Camille, three deaths were reported. Over of rain were recorded in the western portion of Cuba. But in continental North America, where Camille was stronger, more damage was brought. While moving over southeastern
Louisiana, the Weather Bureau Office at
Boothville reported wind gusts of . At least $350 million (1969 USD, $1.85 billion 2005 USD) in damage was reported.
Alabama also experienced damage along U.S. Highway 90: 26,000 homes and over 1,000 businesses were wiped out completely across the state of Alabama. Camille's large circulation also resulted in a 3-to-5 foot (1-1.5 m) storm surge in
Apalachicola, Florida.
Mississippi received the worst of the damage. Upon making landfall, Camille produced a 24 foot (7.3 m) storm surge. Along Mississippi's entire shore and for some three to four blocks inland, the destruction was nearly complete. The worst hit areas were
Clermont Harbor,
Lakeshore,
Waveland,
Bay St. Louis,
Pass Christian,
Long Beach, and the beach front of
Gulfport,
Mississippi City, and
Biloxi.
More than of rain occurred in
Hancock County, and most low-lying areas were flooded with up to 15 feet (4.6 m) of water.
U.S. Highway 90, which is close to the shore, was broken up in many areas, and sand and debris blocked much of it. Totals say that 3,800 homes and businesses were completely destroyed. As Camille came ashore, it passed over
Ship Island, off the coast of Mississippi; Camille's strong storm surge and torrential rains literally split the island in two: the body of water between
West Ship Island and
East Ship Island is now called "Camille's Cut".
In addition, one of
Frank Lloyd Wright's waterfront houses for
W. L. Fuller, in Pass Christian, was completely destroyed by Hurricane Camille.
The Hurricane Party
One persistent account about Camille states that a hurricane party was held on the third floor of the Richelieu Manor Apartments in
Pass Christian, Mississippi, in the path of the eyewall as it made landfall. The high storm surge flooded and destroyed the building, and there was only one survivor to tell of the story of the others. Who the survivor is, how many party guests there were, and just how far the sole survivor was swept by the storm varies with the retelling. Survivor Ben Duckworth is quoted in
Hurricane Camille: Monster Storm of the Gulf Coast as stating that the Richelieu was a designated
civil defense air-raid shelter. However, their faith in the building's sturdiness was unfounded, as it was completely demolished by the storm. Twenty-three people are known to have stayed in the Richelieu Apartments during the hurricane, of whom eight died. The tale of the lone survivor and the party appears to have originated with survivor Mary Ann Gerlach. Other survivors, including Duckworth and Richard Keller have expressed irritation at the story. "The hurricane party never happened, nor were the number of deaths associated with the apartment inhabitants accurate," says Pat Fitzpatrick,
Mississippi State University professor and author of
Hurricanes: A Reference Handbook.
Ohio Valley and West Virginia
Camille caused moderate rainfall in
Tennessee and
Kentucky of between 3 and, helping to relieve a drought in the area.
Yet in
West Virginia, there was flash flooding which destroyed 36 houses and 12 trailers, a total of three quarters of a million dollars in damage. What was about to happen in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia would be far worse.
Virginia
Because the hurricane was expected to quickly dissipate over land, few were prepared for the flash flooding. Arriving in
Virginia on the evening of August 19, Camille was no longer a Hurricane, but she carried incredible amounts of moisture and contained sufficient strength and low pressure to pull in additional moisture.
Many victims went to bed that night thinking that a typical summer thunderstorm was rumbling through. The storm dropped torrential rainfall of to, with a maximum of . The flooding led to overflown rivers across the state, with the highest amounting being the
James River in
Richmond with a peak crest of . Many rivers in Virginia and West Virginia set records for peak flood stages, causing numerous mudslides along mountainsides. In the mountain slopes between
Charlottesville and
Lynchburg, more than of rain fell in a course of 12 mere hours, but the worst would befall
Nelson County.
A hilly, rural county with a population of around 15,000 Nelson would receive as much as of rain. The rainfall was so heavy there were reports of birds drowning in trees and of survivors who had to cup their hands around mouth and nose in order to breathe through such a deluge.
The ensuing flash floods and mudslides killed 153 people. In Nelson County alone, 133 bridges were washed out, while some entire communities were under water.
The major flooding that occurred downstream cut off all communications between Richmond and the
Shenandoah Valley.
Waynesboro on the
South River saw eight feet of water downtown, and
Buena Vista had more than five feet.
Throughout Virginia, Camille destroyed 313 houses, 71 trailers, and 430 farm buildings. 3,765 families were affected by the hurricane in the area, and total damage in the state amounted to $140.8 million (1969 USD, $747 million 2005 USD).
Barometric pressure, winds, and other superlatives
Camille produced the seventh lowest official barometric pressure ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, at 905 mbar. Minimum pressure at landfall in Mississippi was 909 mbar; the only hurricane to hit the United States with a lower pressure at landfall was the
Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. A reconnaissance flight indicated a pressure of 901 mbar, but this pressure wasn't verified, and remains unofficial pending reanalysis. The wind speed of Camille can only be approximated, as no meteorological equipment survived the extreme conditions at landfall, but Camille is estimated to have had sustained winds of 190 mph (305 km/h) at landfall, with gusts exceeding 200 mph (320 km/h).
The storm surge quoted by the Army Corps of Engineers was based on high water marks inside surviving buildings, of which there were but three. Prior to the collapse of the Richelieu Apartments, Ben Duckworth shined a flashlight down a stairwell and found the water within one step of the third-story floor; this establishes a surge height of at that spot at that time. About 15 minutes later, the building collapsed and the evidence vanished with it.
In addition, Camille forced the
Mississippi River to flow backwards for a river-distance of 125 miles (from its mouth to a point north of
New Orleans). The river further backed up for an additional, to a point north of
Baton Rouge.
In 1969 the naming conventions for hurricanes were not strictly controlled as they're today. There were only three requirements: the name had to be female (male names were not used at that time), the names had to remain in alphabetical order, and the name couldn't have been retired.
John Hope, a
meteorologist at the
National Hurricane Center, had a daughter who had just graduated from high school. He added her name — Camille — to the list of storm names for the year, having no way of knowing that the storm bearing her name would become infamous. Camille Hope is the wife of U.S. Rep.
Jim Marshall of
Georgia.
Aftermath
The response after the storm involved many federal state and local agencies and volunteer organizations. The main organization for coordinating the federal response to the disaster was the Office of Emergency Preparedness which provided $76 million (1969 USD, $403 million 2005 USD) to administer and coordinate disaster relief programs. Food and shelter were available the day after the storm. On
August 19 portions of Mississippi and Louisiana were declared major disaster areas and became eligible for federal disaster relief funds.
Major organizations contributing to the relief effort included the Federal Power Commission which helped fully return power to affected areas by
November 25,
1969. The Coast Guard (then under the Department of Transportation), Air Force, Army, Army Corps of Engineers, Navy, and Marine Corps all helped with evacuations, search and rescue, clearing debris and distribution of food. The Department of Defense contributed $34 million (1969 USD, $180 million 2005 USD) and 16,500 military troops overall to the recovery. The Department of Health provided 4 million dollars towards medicine, vaccines and other health related needs. towards planned and coordinated redevelopment of affected areas.
The devastation of Camille inspired the implementation of the
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. After the storm, many Gulf Coast residents commented that hurricane warnings were not clear enough in conveying the expected intensity of the coming storm. The Saffir-Simpson scale offered a much more concise statement of storm intensity than barometric pressure and wind speed measurements, and veterans of previous hurricanes could analogize the power of the approaching storm to those they'd experienced.
In a 1999 report on Hurricane Camille sponsored by the NOAA Coastal Services Center, the authors concluded: "With Camille, the preparations for the event and the response were based on processes put in place long before the storm made landfall. Coordination between government agencies as well as with state and local officials was enhanced because of preexisting plans."
Retirement
The name
Camille was retired after the 1969 season due to the major destruction and death in much of the Southern United States. A replacement name was never chosen, as a new list of names was created.
Comparisons to Hurricane Katrina
Comparisons between
Hurricane Katrina of the
2005 season and Camille are difficult to avoid because of their similar strengths and similar landfall locations. Before Katrina, Camille was considered to be the "benchmark" against which all Gulf Coast hurricanes were measured. Katrina was weaker than Camille at landfall but substantially larger, which led to both a broader and a larger storm surge. Katrina was described by those that experienced Camille as "much worse" - not only because of the massive storm surge, but from the fact that Katrina pounded the Mississippi coast for a longer period of time. Camille also drew part of its record storm surge from adjacent coastal waters;
Lake Borgne and
Lake Pontchartrain actually receded, sparing the city of
New Orleans from flooding.
Katrina's death toll was made slightly higher because those who survived Camille with no flooding and little damage believed Katrina to be less of a threat, creating a false sense of security among Camille veterans, which accounted for as many as 7% of those not evacuating. An innkeeper at the Harbour Oaks Inn, Tony Brugger, stayed at the inn and was killed when his inn collapsed. Before 1969, many residents of the Gulf Coast had weathered the effects of
Hurricane Betsy the strong
Category 3 hurricane that had made landfall in 1965. Betsy up until that point had been the benchmark for Gulf hurricanes and many people ignored the warnings for Camille believing that a hurricane couldn't get any stronger. Unfortunately when Katrina hit the same mentality persisted and those who survived Camille felt that they could survive Katrina and thus didn't evacuate.
Further Information
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