browsing internet in regards to Hurricane Camille

Hickory, North Carolina

We lived in Pass Christian during Camille on Wenmar Avenue; approximately one half mile from Hwy. 90 and beach. We stayed at a neighbors house next door with 2 other families-6 adults/8 children. We were lucky we survived. Listening that night of the howling wind witnessing a 80 year old Magnolia tree crash through the roof into the house with rain/wind coming into the house was the most terrifying thing in my life. The next morning going outside and seeing the destruction was incomprehensible. I remember walking with my brothers and father to the Winn-Dixie grocery store on highway 90 and it being destroyed; there was nothing around just solid smooth concrete pavement and it was so humid and hot. That storm caused us to relocate to North Carolina where we have lived since that time.

Hello......Happy 43rd anniversary of Hurricane Camille....I am 64 years old, and I lived with my mother on Boardman Blvd in Gulfport MS when Camille came ashore....We stayed in the house and the house received no damage. I will never forget the sound and fury of that night...
I had a 1962 Ford Convertible. IT still ran after Camille, but the convertible top was shredded rags. I drove around with the rags waing in the wind.
I will never forget Camille. Glad you made it OK as well
Jim Newman, San Antonio, Texas.

South Texas Ham

Texas USA

Orange Grove Tx

Hello Tim
I enjoy your website wish my was that cool LOL
we See you soon 73 de Joe n5sth

surfing the internet...moving back to the coast after living in California 33 years

Pass Christian, MS

My family had just purchased a beautiful home facing the sound on Scenic Drive 3 weeks before Camille. We had just received our furnishings a few days before Camille came barrelling in. We stayed a couple miles inland that night. I'm sure we would have perished as the house was gone and the brick front steps were all that remained. The family Buick was up a tree! My sister and I were excited about attending school at Coast Episcopal h.s. (the mansion pictured on your website). After waiting for the "big one" in California and dodging wildfires I guess I'll go home "the Coast":)

searching history of Camille

Gulfport, MS

Also grew up in Collens Subdivision on St. James Blvd and remember today each and every year.

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Flint, Michigan

After the owner of the Hwy 90 Enco station dropped me off at the Seabee base, I went back to my barracks where I found out all on-base personnel had been put on alert. Quickly, I got into my greens and reported to the duty officer who told me to hurry to a certain location so a base bus could take me to one of the WWII wooden warehouses on the other side of the base.

This turned out to NOT be a good idea.

That night with the hurricane screaming around the warehouse, and it shaking and loudly creaking, I asked the fellow next to me if he wanted to go, because I had a car, an old '51 Chevy, parked outside, and this place was starting to come apart. It WAS too!

There was a fellow stationed at one of the huge warehouse doors keeping it a little open to equalize pressure. We brushed past him into the screaming wind. Instantly we were nearly blown off our feet! In fact, I couldn't even breathe until I discovered that I could cup my hand over my nose and mouth and it would capture enough air so I could breath.

We made our way along the walls and got to the Chevy. To my surprise it started! As we drove slowly out toward the Pass Road gate I was learning how to drive a car in a 150mph side wind (after all, I WAS an equipment operator!) we drove through the gate area, looking at the little guard booth laying on its side. We then proceeded to drive to downtown Gulfport. This was around 9 or 9:30 that night, as I remember, perhaps two hours or so before the eye was to come over Gulfport. What happened in the next hour is burned permanently into my memory, before we finally made it to the 28th Street school on Pass Road.

That story is for another time. This is enough for today. I will say though, that the warehouse we left was completely gone the next morning! All the guys that were in the warehouse survived miraculously, but that warehouse, and all the WWII wooden warehouses, as well as the old blimp hanger, were gone the next morning. Only the newer brick warehouses nearby, where all the women and children were holed up, survived pretty much intact.

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Flint, Michigan

I was a Seabee employed off-base at Carroll Peterman's Enco Station on Highway 90 between 25th Avenue and Broad Avenue. That afternoon I was pumping gas, on duty at the station because my group on base was off duty. Mr. Peterman showed up in mid-afternnon, told me we had to put cars away in our 3-bay station. As I remember, he brought in a white, mint, 1958 Buick wagon, I brought in a nearly new green Chevy and a Mercedes with 4-speed stick shift on the column. He finished by bringing in a Rover 2000 (or

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Dallas, Texas

My family and I rode out Camille at the Best Western in Hattiesburg. We had been on the coast when the storm warnings came in late the night before and Hattiesburg was as far as we could get because of gridlock on the highway. The folks on the radio said to get in the smallest room in the house and put a mattress over you so the five of us huddled in our motel bathroom. A used car lot sponsored hurricane coverage on the radio all night -- they kept announcing that the hurricane was being sponsored by them! At least they had a sense of humor. My parents did too because I just remember sitting on the floor of the motel bathroom covered by a mattress laughing all night. The morning after, large parts of the motel's roof were in the parking lot and a large home across the street had a big tree on top of it. The motel's restaurant was ankle-deep in water but my father was hungry and went in to help out so he could cook himself something to eat!

Orlando,Florida

I was born on August 4th, 1969 in Biloxi and was only a couple of weeks old when Camille hit. My father was in the Air Force at Keesler. In the aftermath there was a lot of cleaning up to do.

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Birmingham, AL

I was born in 1972 and was named after Hurricane Camille.