48 years ago today a little storm in the Gulf came ashore on the MS Coast. Her name was Camille.
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48 years ago today a little storm in the Gulf came ashore on the MS Coast. Her name was Camille.
I was 3 years and 12 days old and remember it like it was yesterday and we were 102 miles inland.
I was 4 and lived in North Ms but had an uncle in Gulfport and an uncle in Bay St Louis that both came to our house to escape the storm. We went back with them after the storm and the only things I remember was three ships washed up on the beach somewhere along 90 and pine needles sticking half way through a stop sign. I have a Poloroid of both somewhere.
I was 8 and at my grandparent's house in the middle of Biloxi. My father stayed at our home across the bay on the bayou, had his truck parked in front of the house ready to evacuate. The water came up so fast that the truck went underwater before he could get to it. He spent the night tied to a pine tree that had fallen across the roof. Water came up to the eaves of the house and everything material was lost in the storm. Not a fond memory at all. I wonder how folks would react to something like that today. We ate K rations for 2-3 weeks and it was early October before we had electricity and other utilities fully restored.
Chasing a hurricane is a big item on my to do list when we get another one in this neck of the woods, but I'd really be hesitant on one like that. I dare say one like that I'd probably sit it out. 140-150mph sustained would probably be my limit.
Was 8 and lived about a mile north of the beach in old Mississippi City. Remember going to mass in the morning and the weather was starting to get squally. My dad took me and some of my brothers down 90 after making sure the residents of a subdivision he had built were evacuating and the water was already up to the seawall. I will never forget 2 things. The wind that night was like a train all night. I thought the roof was going to come off at any moment. And except for the helicopters the next few days it was so quiet and hot. Drank muddy well water till the seabees got water buffalos to east gulfport. The Merry Mansion was just gone. Went through Katrina with water up to my chest. The wind never got as bad as Camille..
I was 7 and living in the Glendale community outside Hattiesburg when Camille hit. We had 4 30' tall Pecan trees in our yard that would bend almost in half because the wind was so strong. One of them got struck by lightening which curled the bark on the tree. It died and had to be cut down. We also had friends from the Eatonville community come stay with us because they had 60' tall pines on their property and they were afraid the trees may fall on their house. Luckily all came thru with no damage.
About three weeks later I would be on my way down there in a convoy.
The pine needle thing was spooky. I grew up in N. MS and on a trip to the coast a year or two later we stopped at a roadside park not too far inland.
All the tree trunks were basically "furry" with embedded pine needles. I couldn't wrap my young brain around the fact that pine needles could be driven into trees.
I was 6 living in Greenwood. For some reason I have always remembered being in my backyard that day . Very windy .
I was 14, visiting my aunt and uncle and cousins in Lake Village Arkansas. I don't know how many miles that is from the Gulf, but its at the top of Louisiana. I remember winds that must have been Cat 2.
I was a junior at MSU, living in Hamlin (it was a nice place then). Listened to a lot of storm coverage on the radio, and if I recall correctly, a few days later Bob Hope came and did a fund raiser at a television station in Meridian.