Hurricane Camille Killed Over 250 People and Erased Entire Neighborhoods

Monday is the 57th anniversary of the massive Category 5 Hurricane Camille, a storm that is distinguished as the second strongest hurricane to strike the mainland U.S. in recorded history. Here is a look back at this monster storm that killed hundreds of people and changed the way that tropical weather events are classified today.

Gulf Coast Remembers Wrath of 1969's Hurricane Camille

Hurricane Camille came ashore near Pass Christian, Mississippi, late in the evening on August 17, 1969. Camille unleashed winds as high as 200 mph and a storm surge of over 24 feet. Camille was blamed for about 250 deaths in the U.S. and another five in Cuba.

This hurricane was a classic Cape Verde storm, originating off the coast of Africa in early August. While the feature did not initially find favorable conditions for strengthening, that all changed on August 14th when the storm began to generate a low-level area of circulation. It was this day that the feature took on the name Camille.

Camille was spinning about 60 miles to the west of Grand Cayman Island when it developed formal tropical characteristics. Falling levels of wind shear helped to fuel its intensification, with the central pressure dropping over 40 millibars in a period of just 24 hours.

The strengthening storm became a hurricane on the morning of August 14 when it was churning roughly 60 miles south-southeast of Pinar del Rio on the western tip of Cuba. Camille's rapid intensification sent the storm to a major Category 3 classification by the end of the day.

In addition to the five fatalities in Cuba, about 20,000 more were left homeless as Camille ushered in heavy rain and flash flooding. Although Camille weakened as it moved over the mountainous terrain of Cuba, it strengthened once again when it reached the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Camille was packing maximum sustained winds of 140 mph by August 16 as it moved to the northwest with the Gulf Coast in its sights.

The forecast models from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) had initially forecast that Camille would turn to the northeast and make a direct strike on the Florida Panhandle. However, Camille had other ideas, moving farther west instead.

High Winds, Flooding Rainfall, and Storm Surge

The storm reached the status of a Category 5 hurricane on August 17, with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph. The whopper of a storm was only 100 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River when it notched wind speeds of 190 mph, paired with a central pressure of just 905 millibars.

Camille destroyed all of the wind instruments in its path when it made landfall later that evening along the Mississippi coastline. This means that experts were not able to say with certainty how strong the winds were when it came ashore. Most estimates put the top wind speeds at about 200 mph.

In addition to the highly destructive winds, Camille also produced a storm surge of 24.6 feet. Severe damage was recorded in the barrier islands and across the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Alabama. For instance, almost 75% of Dauphin Island, Alabama, was heavily damaged due to the storm surge and resulting debris.

Extensive crop damage was also reported throughout the Gulf Coast region. Pecan, soybean, and corn crop yields were the most significantly impacted by the high winds and rain.

Camille Goes on to Ravage Virginia

Camille was not done when it exited the Gulf Coast. The remnants of the weather maker trudged to the northeast, devolving into a tropical depression by the time that it reached Tennessee. From there, the storm took an eastward path, eventually reaching the mid-Atlantic.

Heavy rain was wrung out of the storm as it moved over the Appalachian Mountains and into West Virginia and Virginia. Rainfall totals ranging from 12 to 20 inches fell across the higher terrains of the region, with the bulk of this rain coming in a period of less than six hours. A report of 27 inches was recorded in Nelson County, Virginia.

Over 150 fatalities and almost 9,000 injuries were confirmed in Virginia. This was in addition to the destruction of about 5,600 homes in this part of the country located hundreds of miles from the point of landfall.

Camille led to the adoption of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The implementation came after residents noted that the general hurricane warnings did not effectively convey the power of the storm. This scale is currently used to classify a storm's true intensity, helping weather experts to communicate about the potential danger.

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