Louisiana Hurricanes

Hurricane Camille was a powerful category 5 hurricane that hit Waveland, Mississippi on August 17, 1969. It had the highest wind speed at landfall of any hurricane to hit the continental United States in recorded history, with winds at an estimated 175 mph, and it is one of only four hurricanes to make landfall as a category 5. It formed as a tropical wave off the western coast of Africa. On August 13 it passed Jamaica, and upgraded to a tropical depression shortly thereafter. Just northwest of Grand Cayman, it strengthened to a tropical storm, and then to a hurricane in under 12 hours. On August 16, Camille was upgraded to a category 5 hurricane. Though it weakened briefly to a category 4 the next day, the storm regained strength in time to make landfall at around 11:30 PM on August 17. As a result of rivers overflowing, Pass Christian and parts of Biloxi were completely flooded, with waters rising to over 22 ft in some areas. Camille’s strong winds completely flattened many structures as it moved northward across Mississippi. In the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia, intense rainfall led to flooding and destruction, even after Camille had weakened to a tropical depression In total, there were an estimated 259 deaths and $1.42 billion in damages associated with Camille. 

Listed below are some recommended subject headings for searching for Hurricane Camille. Full steps on how to use these subject terms can be found on this LibGuide's homepage.

Disaster relief -- Mississippi -- Case studies.
Hurricane Camille, 1969.
Hurricane Camille, 1969 -- Historiography.
Hurricanes.
Hurricanes -- Gulf States.
Hurricanes -- Louisiana.
Hurricanes -- Social aspects -- Mississippi -- Gulf Coast -- History -- 20th century.
Louisiana -- Hurricanes.
Mississippi -- Hurricane, 1969.

A few of the collections held by LSU Libraries Special Collections are listed below. Additional collections may be found utilizing the subject headings listed in the sections above. 

Books and other published materials

Manuscript collections

Oral Histories

Images in the banner from left to right are numbered below 1 to 8.

1. Hurricane Audrey  2. Hurricane Betsy  3. Hurricane Camille  4. Hurricane Andrew  
5. Hurricane Katrina  6. Hurricane Rita  7. Hurricane Gustav  8. Hurricane Ike

Images 1-4 are in the public domain because they contain materials that originally came from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, taken or made as part of an employee's official duties. 
Images 5-8 are in the public domain in the United States because they were solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See NASA copyright policy page.)