Hurricane Camille was one of the most powerful hurricanes to make landfall in the United States when it hit southern Mississippi in August 1969. A devastating tropical cyclone, Camille was one of four Atlantic hurricanes to strike the United States as a Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson scale, the highest category corresponding to maximum sustained winds of at least 157 mph (253 km/h). The third named storm of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season, Camille originated as a tropical depression on August 14 south of Cuba from a long-tracked tropical wave. Amid favorable conditions for development, Camille strengthened and struck western Cuba the next day as a hurricane. Upon entering the Gulf of Mexico on August 16, Camille strengthened further, first into a major hurricane, and then into a Category 5 hurricane, late on August 16. After briefly weakening, the hurricane intensified as it approached the northern gulf coastline. Early on August 18 as it moved ashore near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, Camille attained maximum sustained winds of 175 miles per hour (280 kilometres per hour), and a minimum pressure of 900 millibars (26.58 inches of mercury). Throughout the United States, Camille killed at least 343 people. This included 55 indirect fatalities, mostly from cardiovascular failure. The hurricane also caused at least $1.42 billion in damages in the United States, making it the country's most expensive hurricane at the time, surpassing 1965's Hurricane Betsy.
Before entering the Gulf of Mexico, Camille brought high winds and caused major river flooding to parts of Cuba, killing at least five people. After the hurricane entered the Gulf of Mexico, the United States Weather Bureau issued widespread hurricane warnings and watches from Louisiana to Florida. Off the coast, Camille's strong winds produced high waves that destroyed three oil platforms and flooded several others. In southern Mississippi where it moved ashore, the hurricane produced the largest storm surge in American history at the time, with a peak water level of 24.6 feet (7.5 m) recorded at Pass Christian; it was later surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The storm surge and high winds caused tremendous damage, flattening nearly everything along the Mississippi coast and portions of southeast Louisiana. The winds devastated the region's agriculture, and contributed to the end of tung oil production in the United States. In Mississippi, 172 people died, while another nine died in Louisiana.
The hurricane weakened quickly as it pushed inland, falling below hurricane strength north of Jackson, Mississippi, and weakening further to a tropical depression over Tennessee. In parts of Mississippi and Tennessee, the rains helped end drought conditions. However, as Camille tracked through the Ohio Valley as a tropical depression, it generated severe thunderstorms that led to a cloudburst over parts of Virginia. The highest rainfall total was 27 inches (690 mm), recorded in a trash barrel near Massies Mill; this was the highest rainfall recorded in the state related to a tropical cyclone. The rains led to damaging floods across the Appalachian Mountains, killing over 153 people in Virginia and another two in West Virginia. After emerging into the western Atlantic Ocean, Camille restrengthened to a strong tropical storm before becoming extratropical on August 22. The name Camille was retired following the 1969 hurricane season.
Meteorological history
Hurricane Camille's precursor was a tropical wave that emerged off the coast of West Africa near Dakar, Senegal, on August 5, 1969. The wave moved westward across the Atlantic Ocean, tracked by satellite imagery. On August 9, the associated thunderstorms concentrated into a circular area of convection while located about 500 mi (800 km) east of the Lesser Antilles. On the next day, the wave moved through the island chain and continued into the Caribbean Sea. By August 13, its convection spread from near Jamaica to the northeast through the Bahamas, although there was no evidence of a closed circulation. The thunderstorm developed banding features, and although it is unclear exactly when tropical cyclogenesis occurred, a tropical depression formed around 00:00 UTC on August 14. At the time, it was located roughly halfway between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. The depression intensified into a tropical storm within six hours of its formation. At 17:00 on August 14, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) initiated advisories on Camille as the third named tropical storm of the season. The development was confirmed when the Hurricane Hunters observed an intensifying tropical storm on August 14 with winds of 60 mph (95 km/h), located about 50 mi (80 km) west-northwest of Grand Cayman. Upon being classified as a tropical storm, Camille was located within an area conducive to further strengthening, with light wind shear and warm, moist air coming from the south. The outflow to the north was amplified by a cold core low over the Mississippi Valley, while a narrow ridge of high pressure existed northeast of the storm. The NHC later wrote that "it was apparent almost from the outset that Camille would be an explosively deepening storm."
The newly formed tropical storm attained hurricane status by 06:00 on August 15, making it the second hurricane of the season. Camille moved northwestward toward western Cuba, described by the NHC as "small but potent", as it was tracked by radar from Havana. Late on August 15, the hurricane attained its first peak intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (180 km/h). At 22:00 that day, Camille struck western Cuba between Cape San Antonio and Guane, and it weakened slightly over land. By early on August 16, the hurricane had emerged into the Gulf of Mexico. Initially, the NHC anticipated that Camille would turn to the north and northeast, forecasting that the hurricane would eventually move ashore on the Florida panhandle. Instead, Camille continued northwestward and resumed its rapid intensification trend after leaving Cuba. For about 18 hours, the Hurricane Hunters provided radar imagery of the center of Camille, but were unable to make direct observations of the hurricane's center, partly due to Camille's small eye. Camille's structure evolved further as strong feeder rainbands developed in each direction. The hurricane's eye contracted to a diameter of less than 10 miles (16 km), equating to a 9 mile (15 km) radius of maximum winds. Late on August 16, Camille attained peak winds of 175 mph (280 km/h), while located about 300 mi (490 km) west of Key West, Florida. This made it a Category 5 on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson scale, the highest category on the scale corresponding to maximum sustained winds of at least 157 mph (253 km/h). The intensity was based on observations from the Hurricane Hunters, which initially had difficulty measuring the intensity in the eye due to the small size. A dropsonde released during reconnaissance recorded a minimum atmospheric pressure of 908 mbar (26.8 inHg), which at the time was the lowest pressure recorded by reconnaissance aircraft. A dropsonde from another flight around 00:00 on August 17 recorded a slightly deeper central pressure of 905 millibars (26.72 inHg).
As it continued toward the Gulf Coast of the United States, Camille maintained a small eye, which began to undergo an eyewall replacement cycle. Observations from the Hurricane Hunters indicated that Camille weakened, dropping to Category 4 status late on August 17. Dropsonde data from the flight indicated a central pressure of 919 millibars (27.14 inHg), before the plane was forced to end its mission early due to a damaged engine. Camille subsequently re-intensified as it neared the coast. From 02:30–03:30 on August 18, the hurricane moved across marshlands in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, while the center of Camille remained just offshore of the state. At 04:30 that day, Camille made landfall at Waveland, Mississippi, with peak winds of 175 mph (280 km/h). The NHC originally assessed that Camille was even stronger at landfall, with estimated sustained winds of 190 mph (305 km/h), before a reanalysis in 2014 was completed. As Camille moved ashore, an observer in Bay St. Louis measured a minimum pressure of 904 millibars (26.70 inHg) on the edge of the eye. The reanalysis concluded that Camille made landfall with a minimum central pressure of 900 millibars (26.58 inHg).
Within 14 hours of moving ashore, Camille weakened to tropical storm status, as the track shifted to the north. It curved around the western periphery of the ridge near Bermuda. At 10:00 on August 18, the NHC discontinued advisories while the center of Camille was located near Jackson, Mississippi. After moving across Mississippi, the storm weakened into a tropical depression over Tennessee on August 19, by which time Camille began a turn to the northeast. By this time, the track was influenced by a stationary cold front that extended from Nebraska to North Dakota. On August 20, the circulation accelerated eastward, moving through parts of Kentucky, West Virginia, and later Virginia. After moving through the Blue Ridge Mountains, Camille began to re-intensify despite still being over land as it encountered an area of higher moisture content. Late on August 20, it emerged into the Atlantic Ocean near Norfolk, and by 18:00 that day Camille regained tropical storm intensity. By this time, the storm began influencing the track of Hurricane Debbie over the central Atlantic, causing the latter storm to pass east of any land areas. On August 21, Camille reached a secondary peak intensity of 70 mph (110 km/h), as it accelerated to the northeast. On August 22, Camille was affected by cooler, drier air, and it weakened over the north Atlantic Ocean before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone. Later that day, the circulation became absorbed by a cold front while located south of Newfoundland.
Records
Camille produced the eighth–lowest official sea level pressure ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, at 900 millibars (26.58 inHg). This was also its landfall pressure; the only hurricane to hit the United States with a lower pressure at landfall was the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. The wind speed of Camille can only be approximated, as no meteorological equipment survived the extreme conditions at landfall, but a reanalysis in April 2014 estimated that Camille had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (282 km/h). As of 2018, Camille was one of only four Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall on the continental United States at that intensity. The others were the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, Hurricane Andrew of 1992, and Hurricane Michael of 2018.
When Camille moved ashore Mississippi, it produced the highest storm surge recorded in the continental United States at the time. The powerful waves destroyed most tidal gauges near the coast. Based on the debris levels in Pass Christian, Camille produced tides as high as 24.6 ft (7.5 m). The high water mark for an enclosed building was 22.6 ft (6.9 m) above mean sea level, recorded at a Veterans of Foreign Wars building in town. Camille's record storm surge was later surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which produced a high water mark of 27.8 ft (8.5 m), also in Pass Christian.
After moving across the south-central United States, Camille dropped torrential rainfall in central Virginia. The highest observed rainfall was 27 in (690 mm), recorded in a trash barrel near Massies Mill that had been emptied before the rains began. This was the highest rainfall recorded in the state from a tropical cyclone.
Naming background
In the 1960s, there were four lists of feminine given names used for Atlantic hurricanes, with each list being used every fourth year. The practice of retiring hurricane names was meant to be temporary, with the guideline that a name be retired for ten years. When the name Carla was retired in 1961, it was replaced on the 1965 list with Carol, a name retired in 1954 when its namesake devastated New England. Since over a decade had passed, Carol was eligible for reuse. Carol entered the 1969 list, but scientists from the National Hurricane Research Laboratory (NHRL) asked the naming committee in January 1969 to permanently retire Carol, Edna, and Hazel since papers were still being written about the storms. The committee agreed but needed a replacement "C" name. Banner Miller, a member of the National Hurricane Research Laboratory, suggested Camille, named after the daughter of NHC worker John Hope. Camille had carried out a research project for school and impressed Miller. "We kept it quiet for many years," Camille said in an interview c. 2014.
Preparations
Shortly after Camille formed, the National Hurricane Center advised residents on the Isle of Pines and in western Cuba to prepare for gale-force winds, heavy rains, and rising tides. The agency also recommended small boats to remain in harbor. The threat of the storm prompted officials to evacuate thousands along the western coast of Cuba and on the Isle of Pines to higher ground. On the Isle of Pines, 10,000 cattle and 6,000 turkeys were moved to safer areas.
On August 14 upon Camille's first advisories, the Weather Bureau alerted the Army Corps Mobile District about a possible hurricane emergency in a few days. This gave days of warning to move offshore barges and other vessels to safer harbor. Power companies also began making plans upon the hurricane's formation, such as gathering electric repair workers from nearby states to be ready. Beginning on August 15, the NHC warned small boats not to sail far from the southern Florida coasts, and later that day extended the same warnings to mariners along the Florida panhandle and Alabama coast. The agency's initial forecasts anticipated that Camille would move farther east than the hurricane's eventual track. On August 16, the NHC issued a hurricane watch between Biloxi, Mississippi, to St. Marks, Florida. Part of the region was upgraded to a hurricane warning between Fort Walton Beach and St. Marks. The hurricane warning was extended westward, first to Biloxi, and later to Grand Isle, Louisiana, giving residents about 15 hours of notice before landfall. The NHC warned for the potential of coastal flooding, heavy rainfall, tornadoes, strong winds, and 15 to 20 ft (4.6 to 6.1 m) storm tides along the Mississippi coast.