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(Note: Text added. Hurricane
Camille struck at night. The full force of the storm
was felt all along the Mississippi Gulf Coast between 9pm and
2am the following
morning. The storm moved quickly northward away from the Coast.
The high
winds and seas subsided soon after. The next morning was calm,
bright and sunny,
allowing "stunned" residents and rescue workers to
emerge from homes and/or
other locations to begin surveying the damage. End
of text added.)
According to a part of the Encyclopedia
Britannica, which may need rewriting,
Biloxi Mississippi is a "year-round" resort with more
than the usual seaside and
country sports. It is hard to comprehend, said Ralph Godwin,
the Mississippi
American Legion's National Executive Committeeman, that "Hurricane
Camille
last August 17th did not damage or destroy the best of Biloxi's
year-round resort,
it erased it, so that much of it does not exist and will not
exist again." The same
can be said for much of Gulfport, Bay Saint Louis, Pass Christian
and other Mississippi communities, as well as Buras, Louisiana,
and other Louisiana Delta and East Gulf towns.
(Note: Text added. Water some 27
feet above normal sea levels in places rushed inland as Camille
came ashore. On top of the huge surge, the highest ever recorded
in the United States, wave heights reached 30 to 35 feet battering
everything in their path. This picture shows remnants of homes
and businesses on the Pass Christian side of the Bay of Saint
Louis Bridge. Following Camille, all of the water in the Bay
of Saint Louis was covered with the floating debris of homes,
businesses, and other structures. (End
of text added.) |
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The remains of the town center of Pass Christian. |
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(Note: Picture and text added.
Camille roared in to strike the Mississippi Gulf Coast, devastating
the cities of Waveland, Bay Saint Louis, Pass Christian, Long
Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Ocean Springs, with heavy damage
extending far beyond these Cities and Towns. At least 250 lives
were lost, with another 100 missing. Some 5,000 homes were totally
destroyed and 40,000 heavily damaged. Many businesses were also
totally destroyed, and even more were damaged. A storm tide of
24.6 foot occurred at Pass Christian Mississippi.
Reported from the Library
in Pass Christian following the storm: "On the first floor,
sand covered the floor, along with glass, ceiling tiles, books,
shelves, and broken furniture. On the second floor, the collection
had not received the prolonged soaking that the downstairs books
had. But even so, many of them which had been washed or blown
off the shelves, were not salvageable and had to be discarded."
Other Libraries along the Coast
sustained severe damage, and many of their irreplaceable collections
were lost and/or were not salvageable. End
of text added.) |
An 85 foot boat rests against the home of Stafford
Cooper, 100 yards from the Biloxi waterfront. |
Hurricane Camille Gift Shop along the Beach Boulevard
(Route 90) in Gulfport Mississippi. |
(Note: text added. Camille was
born west of Grand Cayman Island on August 9th 1969, and strengthened
as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico. Around midnight of August
17th, the hurricane hit the Mississippi coast, just east of Bay
St. Louis, with 190 mph winds and 30 foot tides, killing 143
people along the seaboard from Alabama to Louisiana. Camille
was only the second Category 5 storm ever to hit the United States
mainland. The other was the 1935 Labor Day storm which struck
the Florida Keys.
In the hardest hit areas
along the lower Louisiana peninsula and Mississippi, more than
5,000 homes were totally destroyed with 40,000 damaged. Storm
tides of 20 and 30 feet were so high that one survivor was washed
over the City of Pass Christian without encountering any utility
poles, buildings, or trees.
"After landfall, Camille
weakened steadily as it moved on a curving path through Mississippi,
Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia," recounted William
Proenza, director of the NWS Southern Region. "The heavy
rains normally accompanying a dying hurricane diminished from
nearly eight inches in southern Mississippi to one to two inches
in eastern Kentucky as the tropical depression passed through,"
he said. The minimal rainfall was expected to continue on August
20th as the storm proceeded on a course through West Virginia
and into central Virginia. The state of Virginia counted 113
dead with 39 missing with total damages amounting to more than
$116 million ($534 million in 1997 dollars). The floods, rain-induced
landslides, and property damage indicated that this event was
the worst natural disaster ever to strike the state. Camille's
total damage was estimated at $1.4 billion at the time ($6.45-billion
in 1998 dollars). "Camille caused emergency managers to
rethink ways to reduce storm fatalities," said Jerry Jarrell,
director of NOAA's National Hurricane Center in Miami. End of text added.)
(Note: Bottom left picture and this text added. After
Camille, a Tug Boat washed up on the shore North of Route 90
in Gulfport. Later, it was turned around, strongly mounted, and
converted into a Gift Shop. It remains there today as a steadfast
reminder of Hurricane Camille, to anyone walking on the sidewalk
or driving East or West on the Beach Boulevard. Located in a
tug boat that washed ashore during Hurricane Camille in 1969,
this unique store carries a huge selection of Gulfport and Gulf
Coast souvenirs and memorabilia. If you're visiting the Gulf
Coast, stop in and visit...and the folks there will be happy
to tell you more about Hurricane Camille and the history of the
Gift Shop. If you have any Camille memorabilia, it would be nice
if you would consider donating it the the Hurricane Camille Gift
Shop. The Camille Gift Shop is located at 3700 West Beach Boulevard,
Gulfport Mississippi. The Gift Shop's phone number is 1-228-864-5284.
Stop in and browse around for awhile. |
Ralph Godwin, the Mississippi American Legion's
National Executive Committeeman, interviewed
Doctor Leroy B. Lamm of the Gulfport Veterans
Administration Hospital in Gulfport. Behind
them are the remains of the Recreation Hall,
Theater, and Library. 729 V.A. Hospital
patients were flown out ahead of the storm. |
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(Note: Text added. The Gulfport
Veterans Administration Hospital, during Camille, was located
along Route 90 directly north of the Beach Boulevard, and overlooked
the sand beach. The main building was multi-story, and very strongly
constructed. It is still located there today, about 1/4 mile
west of American Legion Post 119 in Gulfport. The foundation
of the main and other buildings were barely above sea level,
and during Camille the storm surge and wind driven seas ahead
of the storm caused the water to begin flooding the first floor
of the main and other buildings. The picture shows the Recreation
Hall, Theater, and Library, not the Main Building. Although many
patients were evacuated before the storm, many patients could
not be moved. Those patients who could not be moved were relocated
to higher floors as the storm surge and wind driven high seas
continued to rise during the approach and strike of Camille along
the coastline. When Camille struck the Coast, the more than 24
foot storm surge, topped with 25+ foot wave heights completely
flooded the first floor of the Main Building and caused severe
damage. An extremely strong concrete and steel fence was later
added along Route 90, to prevent future storm driven debris from
damaging the buildings...and it has performed very well over
the years since. End of added text.) |
John Burk and Carl Wilson clamber over their
house, which was destroyed along with
the rest of Long Beach Mississippi.
Both stayed and were lucky to survive. |
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The Mississippi coastline is
about 85 miles long East to West. The very worst
of Hurricane Camille hit a little West of center, so that the
worst of the destruction was from around Biloxi west to Louisiana
border...covering three-quarters of the whole coastline.
(Note: Text added. A minimum pressure
of 26.84 inches was reported in Bay Saint Louis Mississippi,
which made Camille the second most intense hurricane of record
to hit the United States. The actual maximum sustained winds
will never be known, as the hurricane destroyed all the wind-recording
instruments in the landfall area. The wind-estimates made following
the strike of Camille on the Coast were near 200 miles per hour.
Columbia Mississippi, located 75 miles inland from the Coast,
reported 120 mile per hour sustained winds. Sections of Mississippi
State Highway 90, the Beach Boulevard were gone, either smashed
into pieces or lifted and tumbled like so much "scrap concrete".
Along with many destroyed homes that had stood for over 100 years
along the Coast, there were others that were literally demolished
and swept out into the Gulf when the 20+ foot storm surge retreated
after the storm moved inland. The following morning, all that
was left for miles and miles was sand and more sand, bits and
pieces of this and that, bricks and concrete blocks scattered
everywhere. Splintered and fallen trees, and utility poles with
electrical and telephone wires dangling were blocking the streets.
End of added text.) |
