Mississippi Weather Nightmares

Mississippi history is a history in which weather has played a major role. Mississippi has prospered when the weather is cooperative. However, there have been key times when the weather has been most uncooperative and Mississippi has bared the brunt of destruction and damage. In recent history Mississippi has seen a major flood and two catastrophic hurricanes within 40 years of each other. Mississippi has also been affected by the great floods of 1927. Furthermore, Hurricane Camille in 1969 and hurricane Katrina in 2005 caused major damages in Mississippi especially in the gulf coast region. All three of these events led major damage to property and businesses in Mississippi.

The great flood of 1927 began with very heavy rains in the central basin of the Mississippi river in the summer of 1926. The flood affected Mississippi and several other states. Property, stock, and crop’s losses were in the millions with the lower delta receiving the most damage. It is now understood that levees may have caused some of the problems with flooding.

Hurricane Camille in the 1969 was the second of three catastrophic category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S in the 20th century. It was the Atlantic hurricane to have recorded stable wind speeds of 190 miles per hour at the time. Camille is the 2nd largest us land falling hurricane in recorded history. Camille made landfall in palm Christian, Mississippi and caused a wide wrath of damage and devastation to the gulf coast. In Harrison court Mississippi, the area of absolute devastation was 68 square miles at a total cost of $1.42 billion. Whole areas of cities were wiped out not unlike Camille’s damage. On the day of September 1947, Hurricane Camille blew out all the electricity in some areas. Upon the arrival of Camille on the Mississippi Coastline, United states highway 90 flooded as it storm surge overtopped seawalls leaving the barge along the highway in Gulfpoint. Camille produced a 24 foot (7.3m) storm surge .The worst areas that were hit Clemont Harbor, lakeshore, Waveland, bay St Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach, and the Beachfront of Gulfport, Mississippi city, and Bioloxi. The hurricane flattened almost all Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. Camille caused $950 million in Mississippi alone.

Hurricane Katrina in 2005 may not have been as powerful a storm as Camille, but it caused much more damage.