On This Day in 1969: Hurricane Camille Smashes Into The Mississippi Coast | WeatherBug
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On This Day in 1969: Hurricane Camille Smashes Into The Mississippi Coast

August 17, 2022
By WeatherBug's Ryan Schwimer
As one of only four Category 5 hurricanes to ever impact the U.S. at the time, Hurricane Camille was determined to bring chaos and destruction to wherever it could.

The story begins on August 5, 1969, when a tropical wave off the western coast of Africa began heading west towards the Caribbean Sea. It traveled for four days before settling south of Cuba on August 9, where the disturbance developed visually through cloud formation.

Shortly after making itself visible to satellites, the tropical depression developed into a tropical storm as it began tracking north towards Cuba. Rapid intensification allowed for the storm to organize into a Category 2 hurricane as it made landfall on the western tip of the island. The city of Guane, approximately 25 miles off the western coast, reported winds of 92 mph and a station just outside the city recorded nearly 10 inches of rainfall. Flooding from the heavy downpour resulted in nearly 20,000 people losing their homes and the intense winds cut power throughout western Cuba. In total, Hurricane Camille caused approximately $5 million (1969 USD) in damages in Cuba, or $40 million when adjusted for inflation.

On August 15, 1969, Hurricane Camille left Cuba as a Category 2 hurricane and headed into the warm, open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The warmth of these waters allowed for more moisture in the atmosphere, which aided the storms intensification. The waters in the Gulf were heated and so, twenty-four hours later, Hurricane Camille had strengthened into a Category 5. It continued to track north and by nightfall on August 17, the storm made landfall along the Mississippi coast. The initial impact was devastating.

Upon making landfall, Hurricane Camille recorded a pressure of 900 mb and winds were estimated at 175 mph. High-speed wind gusts destroyed wind-recording equipment in the area, leaving the actual maximum sustained winds to be estimated instead. However, strong winds were not the only destructive force brought by the hurricane. The storm surge reached a maximum height of 24.6 feet near Gulfport, Miss., and caused intense flooding along the shoreline. Surrounding states also endured storm surge but to a lesser extent, as Louisiana and Alabama saw a storm surge of around ten feet. Surprisingly, rainfall was not as destructive as it could have been at landfall, but this is directly correlated to Hurricane Camille’s forward momentum. The storm itself was quickly tracking north into land, keeping rainfall in the area at a moderate level. The maximum rainfall at this time was recorded at 10.06 inches at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi on the banks of the Pearl River.

After traveling approximately 50 miles northward, the hurricane began to lose intensity and dropped to a Category 4 storm. It had lost its energy source and rugged terrain interrupted the storm’s flow. It continued to weaken as it made its way towards Jackson, Miss., and as it was just south of the city, Hurricane Camille weakened into a Category 1 storm. By August 19, Hurricane Camille was nothing more than a tropical depression heading due east from western Kentucky. However, the storm was still destructive during this stage of its life. As the storm entered Virginia, torrential rains caused flooding throughout the state. The overall maximum rainfall was recorded in the Virginia mountain ranges at 27 inches.

The storm continued eastward and fell back into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia on August 20. Rather than dying off, it intensified again and transformed into an extratropical cyclone. It never hit land again and faded as it journeyed northeastward over the ocean.

Over its lifetime, Hurricane Camille caused damages upwards of $1.42 billion in the U.S. (1969 USD) or $11.5 billion when inflation is considered. Mississippi bore the most damage, at an approximated $950 million (1969 USD). Louisiana had damages worth $322 million (1969 USD), and Virginia comes in third for damage costs at $140 million (1969 USD). A reported 259 deaths were associated with the storm and a countless number of people were left without homes. Nearly half of the deaths were due to inland flooding, especially within Virginia.

Hurricane Camille was nowhere near the costliest or deadliest hurricane in either the U.S. or the world. Its biggest achievement was being only one of four Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S., but since then, other storms have broken its record in almost every category except wind speeds (directly attributed to hurricane categorization). Had the storm been slow-moving, perhaps the story would be far different and much more devastating. 

Story Image: The aftermath of Hurricane Camille. (17 August 1969, NOAA)

Sources: NWS, Wikipedia.org