Hurricane Camille (August 1969)
Contributed by Lisa Romano
Hurricane Camille arrived in Virginia on the night of August 19, 1969, one of only three category five storms ever to make landfall in the United States since record-keeping began. One of the worst natural disasters in Virginia's history, the storm produced what meteorologists at the time guessed might be the most rainfall "theoretically possible." As it swept through Virginia overnight, it seemed to catch authorities by surprise. Communication networks were not in place or were knocked out, leaving floods and landslides to trap residents as they slept. Hurricane Camille cost Virginia 113 lives lost and $116 million in damages. It also served as a lesson that inland flooding could be as great a danger as coastal flooding during a hurricane.
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Time Line
August 17, 1969 - Hurricane Camille makes landfall in the United States in the Bay Saint Louis area of Mississippi. The storm packs wind speeds of about 170 miles per hour and a storm surge twenty-five feet high.
August 19, 1969 - To the surprise of forecasters, a weak northward-moving Hurricane Camille makes a sharp turn to the east, leaving Kentucky and heading over the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. By ten that night Camille stretches from West Virginia all the way to Fredericksburg, and areas to the north and east of the center of the storm experience heavy rainfall.
August 20, 1969 - After leaving twenty-seven inches of rainfall in Nelson County, Hurricane Camille makes its way toward the coast and goes out to sea, leaving in its path 113 deaths from the storm, thirty-nine missing and presumed dead, and damages adding up to $116 million.
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Wed Aug 14, 2024:
Hurricane Camille (August 1969)
Sat Aug 19, 2023:
Hurricane Camille (August 1969)
Tue Aug 20, 2019:
Hurricane Camille (August 1969)
I had not known until today of the existence of an
Encyclopedia Virginia.
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