Camille

[Javlin]

A while back we where discussing whether Camille was actually as strong as the reports stated.I have a friend who is on the Hurricane Hunters and ask him to dig up some old info if possible.The records seemed to have been archived and sent to NHC.So the next step was to talk to some of the old timers out there.They state that every anenometer was pegged at over 200mph and lost to the storm.These sat at about 2 story height and were 30 miles from the Eyewall.Yes the wind gust after that point were all estimates as Derek mentioned.I stated that that evening in Dolan Hall out there we were hearing wind gust 220-240mph again est. but highly possible.

[Blown Away]

What was the eye diameter?

[vbhoutex]

Considering I was in P'cola(Gulf Breeze) when Camille hit and we had winds to at least 90 mph(120 mi. from the center as the crow flies)-I believe they were confirmed at that speed-I do find it entirely believable. Also the destruction I saw afterwards and I am not talking from storm surge, but well into the lower sections of MS(since we couldn't ride along the coast for over a month)also makes that believeable to me. I saw houses blown off their foundations several miles inland, huge signs with 18X12 girders supporting them bent like spaghetti and literally entire forests of trees laid flat. I believe I was about 60 miles inland when the latter two were observed. I had to take US 98 NW out of mobile to MS 26 across to US 11 to get to NO 2 weeks after it hit. I know the aftermath I saw up close and personal I would never wish on my worst enemy. I can not imagine riding it out.

[Javlin]

8-10 miles I believe she crossed in Bay St. Louis about 25-30miles as the crow flies.

[Javlin]

Yea VB she was tight I was almost 10 at the time.The reports I heard that night in Dolan Hall were by radio,military or civilian I do not remember.

[vbhoutex]

One thing that still freaks me out is the thought that if she had come in over P'cola as they thought she was going to for a while our house in GB which sat 17' above sea level would have been totally submerged by the surge!!! As it was I watched 45'+ waves washing clear across Santa Rosa Island and an 8' storm surge where we were!!

[iceangel]

My Grandfather had a beach cottage that was built up on stilts and it was blown away by Camille and to this day, we have never known where it is.

[Agua]

I was a small child living 90 miles north of the coast. The storm went right up US 49. A local airport about 10 miles south of me recorded 120 mph gusts.

[skywarn]

Click on the below link for a look back at Camille. It is also has a good satellite photo of Camille taken by an earlier weather satellite Nimbus III as she was strenghtening in the Gulf.

http://www.geocities.com/hurricanene/hu ... amille.htm

[MSRobi911]

Been there, done that, went thru it, remember it to well. Actually live in Pascagoula which is 30 miles from Biloxi and 50 from Gulfport and we still had high water and very very very strong winds. I was a teenager, but that night is forever imprinted on my mind.

As the saying goes down here and the title of the short movie, "Hurricane Camille, she was no lady". Went three weeks without electricity and no school..man thought that was great, but no TV either, even though we could only get 3 channels way back then on the Antenna beside the house that you leaned out the window and turned until somebody hollered to stop!

Mary

[TSmith274]

For what it's worth, I've heard that winds were clocked at 200+ off the mouth of the Mississippi as she passed on her way to Biloxi/Gulfport.

[Derek Ortt]

we must know the elevation of those wind reports. That's criticial to know the extent of the winds.

Remember, the surge in the north Gulf is always horrific. Georges produced over 12 feet and we all know what Ivan produced

[Javlin]

Thats why I brought up Kessler field they have anenometer's on the flight line.The buildings back then where mainly 2-3 stories(excluding hospital).Then the fact KAFB is 30miles removed from the eye.

[BayouVenteux]

FWIW, I came across this on the http://www.wxresearch.org site, where there were several similar wind field diagrams and data on notable Gulf storms http://www.wxresearch.org/family/pasthur.htm. Not sure as to the data's validity nor how it was originally collected, but it does confirm the general character of Camille as a relatively small, but extraordinarily potent hurricane.

[wolfray]

I remember making a trip from North Carolina to Indiana after the Storm. Our route had to be changed because of all the flooding in Va. Tenn and Va had terrible flooding. Above mentioned 27" measured in Va. This storm was truly one for the books.

[vbhoutex]

I can guarantee that it was not distributed that way, unless Pensacola is closer than 120 miles to landfall. If I read that right it shows we only had 25 mph winds in P'cola area. The Pensacola bay bridge was closed for many hours due to the fact the sustained winds being experienced were well over 50 mph and they close the bridge to any traffic when they get too high, or they used to. In fact we snuck across the bridge before it was officially declared reopened(don't know where the police were).

Considering the damage I saw inland and other accounts above I have my doubts about the validity of the data.

[BayouVenteux]

I can guarantee that it was not distributed that way, unless Pensacola is closer than 120 miles to landfall. If I read that right it shows we only had 25 mph winds in P'cola area. The Pensacola bay bridge was closed for many hours due to the fact the sustained winds being experienced were well over 50 mph and they close the bridge to any traffic when they get too high, or they used to. In fact we snuck across the bridge before it was officially declared reopened(don't know where the police were).

Considering the damage I saw inland and other accounts above I have my doubts about the validity of the data.

I'm glad you mentioned that, because I had my doubts as well. As a child, I was in both Pascagoula and the Mobile/Pensacola area in the winter of '69-70 and I recall seeing considerable evidence of damage near the coast, i.e. damaged vessels still grounded, trees snapped, homes with roof damage (pre-blue tarp era) still under repair. What I saw, and what has been anecdotally stated both here and by many others over the years, just doesn't jibe with that chart.

[cajungal]

My mom and dad got a scare because they originally thought Camille was coming straight for them. They just went through the devestation Betsy left only 3 years before.

My grandma, uncle and cousin used to live in Long Beach, MS not long ago. However they are not from Mississippi. They just moved there a few years ago due to my uncle being in the Navy Seabees there. So, they do not know what Camille was like. But, I know that Long Beach was totally destroyed back then. When I would go visit my grandma there, the locals still talked about it. The Catholic church right next to my grandma's apartment was in shambles. I seen pictures of it and they since rebuilt it. The locals said that the winds in Long Beach topped 200 mph. They were only 6 miles east of the eye. The eye came across in Pass Christian. I went to the souvineer shop in Gulfport called: Camille. I could not find the movie. Only had a small paper back book on the storm. It looked like a bomb was dropped on Long Beach.

My grandparents, uncle and cousin just moved away from Long Beach about 6 months ago. They just bought a house in Kiln, Mississippi ( near Picayune.)

[hcane]

The chart cannot be correct. The latitude and longitude are way west of the Mississippi coast. The coordinates on the graphic saying "storm center" would place the center of the storm about 65 miles south of Houston, TX. Not even close to Pass Christian......

[BayouVenteux]

The chart cannot be correct. The latitude and longitude are way west of the Mississippi coast. The coordinates on the graphic saying "storm center" would place the center of the storm about 65 miles south of Houston, TX. Not even close to Pass Christian......

Good point. In addition I was looking at the original storm bulletins from the NHC archives...

ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/pub/storm_archiv ... /prelimat/


...on Monday 8/18/69, at 1:20 a.m., roughly 1 hr. 15 min. after landfall, authorities in Mobile (83 mi. east of Pass Christian) were reporting 74 mph winds with "TREES DOWN POWER LINES DOWN ALL (across) THE MOBILE AREA. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF WINDOW DAMAGE"...while at 1:30 a.m., Hattiesburg, MS (78 miles north of Pass Christian) reported winds from 75-100 mph. 'Nuff said. Case closed.