Hurricane caused damages but no injuries in Columbia
When most Columbians think of hurricanes, Katrina is the first one which comes to mind. But 50 years ago today it was another storm that stuck in people’s minds for many decades to come, Camille.
In the wee hours of Sunday, Aug. 17 and Monday, Aug. 18, 1969, the Category 5 hurricane hit Columbia, causing damages in the millions. It is still one of the most intense storms ever to make landfall in the United States.
In 1969, Jim Thornhill, who provided the weather information for the local radio station, reported receiving winds at his home on Broad Street up to 120 miles per hour and believed wind gusts in excess of 135 miles per hour on Keys Hill.
Marion County was more agricultural then and experienced extensive damage to the crops plus the loss of power caused a large amount of milk to be ruined. Hundreds of trees collapsed in the county, and stores downtown sustained damages to their awnings and roofs.
A total of 113,000 homes lost telephone service in Mississippi, with more than 80,000 being on the Coast. Both Mississippi Power and Pearl River Valley Electric Power Association said at the time it was the worst storm either had ever been hit with.
A total of 259 people lost their lives from the storm, including 143 in Mississippi, but no one in Marion County was injured.
With Gov. Phil Bryant declaring this to be “Hurricane Camille 50th Anniversary Week,” the C-P interviewed residents who shared some of their experiences from five decades ago.
Jewell Nettles was living in a house trailer in Jackson. He said he was sleeping near the door when a patrolman banged extremely hard on the door in the middle of the night, telling him he had to evacuate.
“I was scared to death,” he said. He ended up going to his brother’s house in North Jackson.
Phillip Ezell Sr. was 18 years old and living on the Coast when the storm hit. “We suffered pretty bad for a while; it was very rough,” he said.
Jerry Henry worked on the clean-up crew. “There were no lights, and trees were down everywhere,” he said.
Carol Durham was in her home in downtown Columbia near First Baptist Church. She said the family went and stayed at a home on Keys Hill.
“The next morning it was very quiet. You couldn’t see anything because of all the downed trees on top of each other,” she said. n
