My Thoughts On Various Hurricanes

I have listed several noteworthy happenings in 1969 so you can regress back to that period of time:

January 1969........Richard M. Nixon was inaugurated as 37th President of the United States

March 1969...........Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States, died

July1969................Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, first to walk on moon

The link below contains pictures of Hurricane Camille. Remember this happened 36 years ago before photography was far advanced. The population was smaller and most homes were also smaller and modest.

http://www.harrison.lib.ms.us/library_services/camille_pics.htm

My name is Ruth and I reside in Moss Point, Mississippi I am the mother of four daughters. The youngest daughter has a blog on her Katrina experiences before and after the disaster. Her name is Anita. She resides in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The distance between our homes is just a "hop" and a "skip".

Some may call me a veteran with considerable knowledge on hurricanes as I have lived on the Coast of Mississippi my entire life. In Pascagoula, Ms. where I grew up and before they named hurricanes. I went through a 1947 hurricane which devastated Biloxi, Ms. My hometown is only 20 miles from Biloxi so we sustained considerable damage. Because this particular hurricane had "two" eyes, the locals, dubbed it "Ole Double Eye".

On August 17/18, 1969, Hurricane Camille struck the coast. I lived in Gulfport, Ms., with my husband and three daughters. We invited another couple with two small children to stay inland with us as they lived on the beach front.

The winds started raging at approximately 11PM on the night of the 17th and continued until dawn the morning of the 18th. The power went off immediately. No air conditioning. One would have to live here to know how hot it can be in Mississippi in August. What can I say except, "It is hot as we imagine hell will be". The continual roar of the wind was deafening. Inside walls began vibrating, windows were bowing inward, countless tornadoes were passing over the house. We could hear trees splitting and the sound as they crashed to the ground. There was the clang of metal as flying debris hit the house. Our eyes were always in an upward glance as we feared the roof would be torn off. On our battery operated radio we were able to pick up a local station and the commentor said in a very frantic voice, "downtown Gulfport is gone!"

Instinctively we turned two sofas on their sides, placed a mattress on top and had the children crawl into this makeshift cubbyhole. Just maybe they would stand a chance if the roof collasped. Each of us were left with our own thoughts and mine were only God can save us! We prayed aloud begging God for mercy. The storm vent its fury with a howling wind of over 200 mph that caused horrific noises as the outside of the house was battered and torn.

At first light, we slowly opened the front door and stood silently looking at the destruction. The bombing of HIROSHIMA came to mind. Seemingly dazed neighbors cautiously exited their homes and joined the silent vigil. When we did speak our voices sounded hollow.

The couple that stayed with us lost their home. Damages to our home were repairable.

"Hurricane Camille is said to be the worst storm ever to hit mainland United States. With winds in excess of 200 mph and tides over 20 feet, Hurricane Camille smashed into the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Sunday night, the 17th of August and continued its devastating path until the early hours of Monday, the 18th."

In the ensuing years we always expected another Camille, as we believe lightning can strike twice in the same place. Personally, since Camille struck 22 years after the 1947 storm, I estimated a possible intense hurricane would arrive in 1991. Okay!!!! So the lucky number was 36 years.

In 1979 there was Frederic, in 1985 there was Elena, in 1998 there was Georges but no storm was comparable to the devastation of Hurricane Camille.

The threat of a hurricane is to be expected living on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. We board up our windows , stock up on three days of food and water, and have extra batteries for radios and flashlights. Were we senseless for not evacuating? We were always told that it was safer to stay in our homes and if we did receive orders to evacuate that we should stay in the state near our homes. The preparations I have described are listed in our telephone directories.

In the year 2004, the hurricane activity increased. The state of Florida experienced Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. In 2005, they experienced Dennis, Katrina and Wilma.

In our uncertainty of where Hurricane Ivan was going to make landfall, we evacuated to Birmingham, Alabama.

At a later date, I am going to share with you what it was like going through the nightmare of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005 and the aftermath.