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Hurricane Camille

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Hurricane Camille
Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
FormedAugust 14, 1969
DissipatedAugust 22, 1969
Highest winds1-minute sustained: 175 mph (280 km/h)
Lowest pressure900 mbar (hPa); 26.58 inHg
Damage$1.42 billion (1969 USD)
Areas affectedCuba, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Southern United States, East-Central United States
Part of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Camille was the third named storm and second hurricane of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season. Camille was the second of three Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the United States during the 20th century, which it did near the mouth of the Mississippi River on the night of August 17, resulting in catastrophic damage.

The storm formed on August 14 and rapidly deepened. It scraped the western edge of Cuba at Category 3 strength. Camille strengthened further over the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall with a pressure of 900 mbar (hPa), estimated sustained winds of 200;mph (305 km/h), and a peak storm surge of 24 feet (7.3 m); by maximum sustained wind speeds, Camille was the strongest landfalling tropical cyclone recorded worldwide, and one of only four tropical cyclones worldwide ever to achieve wind speeds of 190 mph. The hurricane flattened nearly everything along the coast of the U.S. state of Mississippi, and caused additional flooding and deaths inland while crossing the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. In total, Camille killed 259 people and caused $1.42 billion (1969 USD, $9.14 billion 2005 USD)[1] in damages.

References

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  1. "The Inflation Calculator". Retrieved 2006-06-18.

Other websites

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