There were only three hurricanes in the 20th century that made landfall as a Category 5. The strongest hurricane of the century was the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Hurricane Andrew ranked third and Camille was second.
Origin and Path of Hurricane Camille
On August 5th, 1969 Camille was detected as a tropical wave off the western coast of Africa and slowly moved westward across the Atlantic Ocean. It passed over the Lesser Antilles, Jamaica and the Bahamas as thunderstorms. On August 14th, a definite pattern of a cyclonic formation began and it was named Tropical Storm Camille. By this time, the storm was sitting west of the Cayman Islands.
As Camille travelled over the Caribbean Sea, it intensified due to drawing in additional moisture and warm air. When it passed by the eastern coast of Cuba, winds were clocked at 115 mph. It weakened slightly over Cuba and then intensified again. By the time it reached the western end of Cuba on August 15, 1969, Camille was declared a Category 3 hurricane.
Forecasters predicted that Camille would turn to the northeast and make landfall on the Florida panhandle. This did not happen. It continued on a northwest path across the Gulf of Mexico. The warm waters of the gulf caused further intensification. The hurricane watch for Florida was cancelled.
On August 16th, reconnaissance aircraft measured the wind speed of Camille and raised it to a Category 4 hurricane. Late in the evening of August 16th, hurricane hunter aircraft clocked the wind speed of Camille at 160 mph on the outer bands and 200 mph at the eye. Now as a Category 5 hurricane, Camille was approximately 100 miles from the Mississippi River Delta.
At approximately 11:30pm on August 17th, 1969, Camille made landfall at Clermont Harbor, just east of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. As stated in a report by the National Ocean Atmospheric Association (NOAA); “Actual maximum sustained wind will never be known as the hurricane destroyed all wind-recording instruments in the landfall area. Estimates at the coast were near 200 mph. Columbia, Mississippi, located 75 miles inland, reported 120 mph sustained winds. A storm tide of 24.6 ft occurred at Pass Christian, Mississippi.”
Although Camille lost strength as it moved inland, it continued to cause severe damage. By August 20th, the storm had reached Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia. Heavy rains measuring 12 to 31 inches caused widespread flooding in the Virginias before heading out to the Atlantic Ocean where it became a tropical storm again and collided with Hurricane Debbie.
Damaged Caused by Hurricane Camille
Cuba
Hundreds of houses were destroyed by wind, along with power lines and trees. In Pinar del Rio Province, river flooding forced 20,000 people from their homes.
U.S. Gulf Coast
The storm surge ranging from 10 feet to over 25 feet caused major damage in the coastal areas. Many parts of US Highway 90 were washed out and boats were carried inland. Seawalls were battered and no longer provided protection from the gulf waters. Structures were flattened. Heavy rain and uncontrolled waves brought flooding to low-lying areas and rivers. Several communities had fires.
The areas suffering the most damage were Biloxi, Lakeshore, Clermont Harbor, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Pass Christian, Waveland, and Mississippi City.
Virginia
Heavy rains caused mountain slides and flash flooding in the higher elevations. Most of the deaths in the state were caused the avalanches. Worst hit was Nelson County. There was very little warning given to the residents.
According to NOAA, “The combination of winds, surges, and rainfalls caused 256 deaths (143 on the Gulf Coast and 113 in the Virginia floods) and $1.421 billion in damage. Three deaths were reported in Cuba.”
Comparing Hurricane Camille to Katrina.
The strength of Camille was underestimated. In 1969, hurricane forecasters based their calculations on the size of the cloud mass. By comparison, Camille was only one-third the size of Hurricane Katrina.
It wasn’t until the day before Camille made landfall that the hurricane hunters realized that it was going to be a Category 5. By contrast, Katrina weakened to a Category 3 at landfall but its large size caused a more devastating storm surge.
An Envirocast by Storm Center Communications described the feelings of many residents of the Gulf Coast when Katrina was approaching. “Many people believed that since they rode out Camille, a category 5 storm, that they were capable of riding out Katrina…after all the thought was that Camille was the most intense storm ever and no other storm could possibly be as bad. In many cases those thoughts proved to be fatal.”
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
