Camille

[hcane]

I was living in Mobile at the time. It was definitely an "experience". Was able to get into the Miss. coast just 2 days later. Dad was with Corps. The damage from Mobile west was truly amazing. And the water in downtown Mobile didn't recede for almost 2 days.

[vbhoutex]

I knew something wasn't right about that chart besides the wind field and the Lat. and long. are it!!! That is why they seemed so familiar to me-because they are so close to the lat and long that are generally listed for Houston! DOHH!!!!That should have been my first clue.

[Andrew92]

Probably the wind field for Alicia instead of Camille is what that is.

-Andrew92

[vbhoutex]

That is what I thought it might be after the lat and long being wrong was pointed out. That would make a lot more sense.

[LSU2001]

I don't know what the actual winds were during camile but I do know that our house in Franklin Creek (13 miles east of Pascagoula) had 21 pine trees knocked down. I also know that on the Miss. Gulf Coast Camile will always be the benchmark to which all other storms will be compared. As I have stated before it was a night of pure hell. The courthouse which is about a mile or so off of the beach had flooding on the first floor and there were times during the night that officials thought that the courthouse was not going to survive the night. Regardless of what the "experts" do in retrospect, Camile was the toughest B!!!! of a storm ever to hit the gulf coast.
Tim

[Ixolib]

This is where I live now (tip of the arrow), as well as where I lived and stayed during Camille - same house, same neighborhood. I was 12 years old and remember it like it was this morning. At 8:30pm, all HECK broke loose, and we didn't see the lights again for 4 more weeks. Camille was, without a doubt, what started this tropical obsession with me - and many others I'd imagine!! An amazing experience, to say the least.....

[Javlin]

That strip of 90 towards the Point floods if we have a tropical storm.I am over in that crux of Popps and Pass.I took a drive down 90 E the other day first time in months the constrution was unbeleivable everywhere.It took the MGC what maybe 10-15 yrs to recover from Camille.Alot of people are reling on that strip of beach for work.What was it about 2 or 3 months ago that a front section fell off the Isle or Grand in that deluge we had with some wind much less a storm.This area will be hurting if something should happen this season.

[Agua]

I'd offer that the Coast NEVER recovered from Camile until the casinos came in. I, too, was just a child, maybe 5-6 years old, but I remember, and my parents have told me, that prior to Camile, the Coast was a VERY popular tourist area; albeit, a bit of a seedy character to the place. I do remember the Buena Vista, Foutainbleau .... After Camile, many folks who would otherwise come to the Coast changed get away destinations to the Florida Panhandle and just never came back.

The threat posed by Ivan last summer slapped me hard with the realization that it is FOLLY, plain and simple, to prohibit those Casinos from being based on land. The facilities are all SELF-INSURED; no carrier will cover them. Although Ivan's winds at landfall weren't significantly much stronger than, say, Georges, that storm surge was incredible and would have imposed an economic disaster upon this area had it struck the Miss. Gulf Coast. I fear such a disaster is what will be required before the Legislature takes the action which, should be, as matter of plain common sense, been taken after the warning shot that was named Ivan.

[cajungal]

I don't see how people who remained in their homes in Long Beach, Gulfport, Pass Christian, etc... lived to tell about it. The storm happened way before I was born. But, wow, I love hearing the stories about Camille. I was just amazed. I visit the MS Gulf Coast usually about twice a year. It is only a 2 and half hour drive from my house. And you should see where they have a mark marking where the water was. It was at an incredible 17 ft. And 200 mph winds! If I would of rode out something like that, I think I would of died of a heart attack! I could not imagine winds that strong for an extended period of time. We had 100 mph winds in Andrew and I was scared stiff for that.
PS. I seem to be posting on here a lot lately. Hmm... Maybe I should be a writer. LOL. What you guys think?

[Javlin]

Your right Aqua the coast really did not recover economic wise till the casinos.I was making a reference more to the point of most the cosmetic issues had been resolved.The economic issue in relation to storms is one of the reasons I have not seeked employment at a casino.I think that a strong Cat2 could really hurt the beachfront at this point and time.I usually travel to Sand Destin over the summer to visit.I here that the signs of Ivan still abound there.I will probably skip this year.If that happens here we will all be hurting.

[Frank P]

I was 17 years old during Camille and living on Point Cadet in Biloxi (east section of town). We had a good 4 feet of storm surge in our house on Oak street, which was 16 feet above sea level, which is pretty much in the center of the peninsula. We had numerous fatalities in that section of town, mostly homeowners within a block of the beach.

I bought a house on the beach in 1975. The house was surveyed for flood insurance at 20 feet above sea level. While remodeling the house, Camille's water line with grassy debris still observable, was measured at 18 inches from the floor. That puts a storm surge of 21 feet, 6 inches in my part of town... confirmed .... We live just a block from Edgewater Mall on the east side. And we're 20-25 miles from where the center of Camille came inland at Bay St. Louis.

To date I have never seen a storm surge even come close to crossing the seawall in from of my house. The highest storm surge in my area since Camille at best has been about 8.5 feet. That level will put it at the base of the seawall in front of my house. I'm relatively sure that near the eye wall you probably would have experience a surge of at least 25-27 feet during Camille. Another Camille in a populated area, New Orleans, Mobile, Miami, Florida Panhandle, Tampa Bay would be unimaginable.

[gatorcane]

Frank P. You got that right. Tampa Bay would be an absolute disaster...in fact last year with Charley we thought that disaster was going to happen (I was living there at that time)....actually with Jean and Frances we saw parts of the bay overflow their banks onto roadways....and the winds were maybe 60-70 max. Could you imagine Tampa Bay or even Biscayne Bay (Miami) with 150mph winds and storm surges of 10ft+ ft? It's utter destruction

[Frank P]

boca_chris
Hopefully you guys and gals over at the Tampa Bay area got a real good and needed wake up call last year.... I think you get a storm with 150+ winds the surge in TB would be a lot higher that 10 feet, provided of course it hit slightly north of TB... it would pile up a tremendous amount of water in the bay... even worse if it was a slow mover... scary

When Ivan was barreling down on the MS coast last year it was the first time in my life that I actually had my car packed and ready to go. I kept waiting for that east shift, which took its sweet time in coming, but nevertheless came at the last minute and diverted the storm toward the Pensacola area. Which allowed me to ride out another one..

I would not even consider evacuating if the storm hits on the east side of me... unless it was a strong 3 or 4 and there was the possibility I would be getting eye wall action. Ivan however, was too close to comfort and we were on pins and needles here on the MS coast ... It would have pummeled the Casinos for sure....

[gatorcane]

Yeah Frank you got quite a scare with Ivan....Ivan was so strong when it was in the Caribbean it had everybody scared. I think it had winds up to 160mph at one point. Fortunately it weakened some before hitting the upper Gulf coast....yeah where the storm hits is Key. For the Tampa Bay you are right...it would have to be just slight north of the Bay or else there would be no surge...same is true for you guys...anyway....good luck this year...it will be an active one and I'm sure we'll have some close calls (and hopefully not direct hits). I live in Palm Beach County now just a little north of Ft. Lauderdale about 1 mile from the ocean. Hurricanes love to congregrate in South Florida it seems. lol.

[Agua]

re: Tampa Bay

My Gosh, last year, listening to one of the Tampa radio stations via internet the night before Charley, I was stunned by how little those folks knew about hurricane prep. Some of the comments were just out of this world. I realize it's due to their having little to no living experience with hurricanes, but it was unreal. Examples (these are actual comments / questions - I'm paraphrasing, but there are other folks on this board that heard the same comments)

My house is on a pier in the bay 25 feet above sea level so I won't evacuate since the storm surge is going to be ~ 20 feet (or whatever the projected surge was).

Since I live 30 feet from a creek and the storm surge is supposed to be 20 feet I'm not going to evacuate.

Which side of the house should I board up?

I'm going to board up one side of the house and then in the eye I'll take 'em down and board up the other side.

Wow, huh?