Hurricane Camille

Hurricane Camille was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that was one of four Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall in the contiguous United States, moving ashore in southern Mississippi in August 1969. The third named storm of the annual hurricane season, Camille originated as a tropical depression on August 14 south of Cuba from a long-tracked tropical wave. Amid favorable conditions, Camille strengthened and struck western Cuba the next day as a Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. After it emerged into the Gulf of Mexico, Camille strengthened further, first into a major hurricane,^{[nb 1]} and later into a Category 5 hurricane, late on August 16. After briefly weakening, the hurricane intensified as it approached the northern gulf coastline, reaching maximum sustained winds of 175 miles per hour (282 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 900 mbar (26.58 inHg) as it moved ashore near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Camille's landfall intensity, as measured by pressure, was the second-lowest recorded for the continental United States, only behind the 1935 Labor Day hurricane.

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 intensified over 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 high tide of 24.6 ft (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. In Mississippi, 137 people died, while another nine died in Louisiana. The winds caused severe damage along its path in southwest Mississippi, damaging buildings and devastating the region's agriculture.

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 in (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 114 people in Virginia and another two people in West Virginia. Throughout the United States, Camille killed at least 262 people, and caused at least $1.42 billion in damages.^{[nb 2]} This made it the most expensive hurricane in the country, just ahead of Hurricane Betsy in 1965. 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 after its usage.

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