User:Vaoverland/project/Hurricane Camille in Virginia

This page was created to temporarily house a project to create an new article which will tentatively be entitled "Hurricane Camille in Virginia", which I hope will be a collaborative effort. Please allow me to explain. In doing so, first, I will only briefly summarize the event which is to be the subject. I have extensive sources and intend that the new article be fully referenced. But for expediency, I will omit that information here, as well as the internal links we normally use.

Hurricane Camille
Hurricane Camille was one of only two Category 5 Hurricanes to come ashore in the United States in the 20th century, striking the mainland along the Gulf Coast in August 1969. The devastation and stories from Louisiana and Mississippi are both extensive, and there are chilling parallels to what occurred with Hurricane Katrina in 2005. However, one thing which sets Camille apart is that the storm system had yet another terrible chapter in our history to write hundreds of miles inland.

Virginia
The Gulf Coast was struck with some warning, and was an area where hurricanes are a fact of life. However, the next victims had no warning for an event unprecedented in the memory of man. After wreaking its havoc in the Gulf Coast areas, with damage mostly from winds, storm surges, and failed levies, the storm dissipated in strength as it moved inland. Perhaps not noticed by many, even as it was downgraded to first a Tropical Storm and the a Tropical Depression, on a scale which bases severity on top sustained wind speeds, Camille was still engorged with vast amount of liquid it had vacuumed up from the Gulf of Mexico, estimated at 100 billion tons of moisture. Originally it seemed to be tracking up the Mississippi Valley, and then turned eastward toward Kentucky, northern Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, and the Atlantic Ocean. Weather forecaster expected it to give Kentucky a nice soaking, and it did, but nothing more, moving east at about 25 mph.

However, on the night of August 19, 1969, as it crossed the Appalachian Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia, Hurricane Camille collided with another weather front and stalled. For at least 6 hours, 8 according to some sources, it dumped 25 to 30 inches of water on the unsuspecting residents of Rockbridge and Nelson counties in Virginia and the surrounding communities on both sides of the Blue Ridge, which separates those mostly rural counties. A noted meteorologist explained: "What made the big difference in Virginia was that it stalled when it got hung up on the mountains. And when the storm had to go up and over the mountains that produced heavier rains." The Office of Hydrology of the Weather Bureau, now the National Weather Service, estimated that the deluge approached "the probable maximum rainfall which meteorologists compute to be theoretically possible." Although it couldn't be verified, it's believed that in the Davis Creek area of Nelson County hit hardest by the storm, 46 inches of rain fell in six hours. The confirmed rainfall is 31.5 inches in Nelson County and 25 to 27 inches in adjacent areas.

One of the more extraordinary and interesting aspects of the disaster was that the mountain geology was altered in landslides complete with soil, trees and boulders of a magnitude never seen before or since in the Eastern U.S. Scientists soon after calculated that the storm hit Nelson County with the destructive force of a 40,000-megaton nuclear bomb. The devastation was so enormous that virtually all land-based communications, roads and railroads were severed, and it was some time before the rest of the state and country even realized the scope of the disaster. In Virginia, entire families were killed, and a death toll of 125 dues not include over 30 persons who were never found. $140 million in property damage (1969 dollars) accompanied the worst natural disaster in inland Virginia's history.

There is a minor personal angle. I was an 18 year old living downstream along the James River in Richmond when the biggest flood in over 100 years reached us. The James River at the fall line is normally quite wide, but it nevertheless rose over 20 feet as we watched buildings and cattle sweep by on the way to the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. I helped evacuate a riverfront home and traveled to Nelson County with friends a few weeks later, where the devastation was still hard to fathom even after cleanup efforts had been underway.

It will be 40 years since this event in August 2009 and I would like to see an appropriate Wikipedia article. What we currently have in several articles in piecemeal and doesn't begin to do the subject justice. Until we get work on such an article to a reasonable level, I would rather keep it here in "sandbox" form.

Books
Bechtel, Stefan. Roar of the Heavens: Surviving Hurricane Camille. New York: Citadel Press, 2006.

Howard, Judith A., and Ernest Zebrowski. Category 5: The Story of Camille, Lessons Unlearned from America's Most Violent Hurricane. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2007.

Simpson, Paige Shoaf, and Jerry Simpson. Torn Land. Lynchburg, Va.: J. P. Bell Co., 1970.

I also obatined and read a fourth book, Hurricane Camille: Monster Storm of the Gulf Coast (Hardcover) by Philip D. Hearn (Author). While full of information about Camille, I found that it seems to pay very little attention to the Virginia aspects I wish to focus upon.

I want to check out a fifth book I have not yet obtained:

It happened in Virginia, by Emilee Hines Publisher: Guilford, Conn. : TwoDot, ©2001. Edition: 1st ed ISBN: 0762711663 9780762711666 OCLC: 48164295

Other sources
Here is a working list of some links:

http://hurricanewatch.mgnetwork.com/index.cfm?SiteID=TFP&PackageID=9&fuseaction=article.main&ArticleID=66&GroupID=17

http://www.nelsoncountytimes.com/nco/news/local/article/two_uva_students_dig_up_nelson_county_history/6265/

http://www.sherpaguides.com/virginia/mountains/sidebars/nelson_county_flood.html

http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/camille1969.html

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1999/ofr-99-0518/metadata/index.shtml

http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Satelli...777385026&path=

http://www.easternuswx.com/bb/lofiversion/index.php/t4044.html

http://www.endstationtheatre.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=66

http://www.virginia.org/site/description.asp?attrID=54740

http://www.nelsoncountytimes.com/nco/news/local/article/nelson_county_museum_is_set_to_open_aug_17/7385/

http://lovf.org/history.htm

http://www.rockfishvalley.org/blog/

Comments and WP: collaborators
Please add here:

My thanks to anyone who would like to comment and/or help. I claim no "ownership" and my greatest hope is that we can do a good job. Vaoverland (talk) 13:21, 21 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Looks like a fair start. Hurricanes aren't really my forte, but I'll be happy to copy-edit or work on the text a bit.  Cheers.-- Kubigula (talk) 04:34, 22 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Update: Thanks to Inter Library Loans, I have three of the four books I plan to cite in hand now. With another member of WP:VA, I have now made the first of several planned trips into the area (Charlottesville/Nelson County) to take some current photos and see some of the memorials and remaining changes to the topography firsthand. Vaoverland (talk) 10:01, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Personal observations do not make wikipedia pages, unfortunately, since it is nearly impossible to adequately source them, unless they were part of a newspaper article or book. Phrases like "she was a monster" do not read like an encyclopedia article, and would fail GAN, FAC, peer review. Inline references would be needed throughout the article, with publisher information included. We added VA information into the Camille article after you created this page....see if any of that content would help this possible wikipedia page. Thegreatdr (talk) 12:24, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Progress report
UPDATE: I have now obtained and worked through four books. Three of these books have proved to be very useful, with overlapping and occasionally contradictory information (not much of that). These will each be good sources.

These three are (details listed above):

Roar of the Heavens: Surviving Hurricane Camille, Category 5: The Story of Camille, Lessons Unlearned from America's Most Violent Hurricane, an dTorn Land.

I also obtained and read a fourth book, Hurricane Camille: Monster Storm of the Gulf Coast (Hardcover) by Philip D. Hearn (Author). While full of information about Camille, I found that it seems to pay very little attention to the Virginia aspects I wish to focus upon.

I want to check out a fifth book I have not yet obtained: It happened in Virginia

Since early January, with another WP:Virginia editor, I have journeyed to Nelson County on three occasions and have driven through the areas and seen several of the memorials. Because the terrain played such a major role in what occurred, it was helpful to me to see the steep mountains, rolling meadows, creeks and rivers as they now are, which helps me visualize the occurrence and aftermath. We took can still see some of the scarred hillsides and took some photos. However, locating and obtaining permission to use some 1969 photos is really what we need.

I wasn't sure when I started this effort, but I now really feel much more sure that something worthy of its own WP article occurred, both with the weather event and the aftermath. This won't be a major WP article, but it is a worthy subhject we don't cover well now. I am determined to be sure what we do present is of good quality. I am planning very good quality references and following MOS of course as part of the effort.

I may have another very talented WP source who may be willing to to do a graphic, but I am not sure how to get 1969 era photos which we could use. Of course, some additional collaboration almost alway adds to our WP efforts. I feel and intend no "ownership", and am still open (more like requesting) comments, suggestions, and help. Thanks, Vaoverland (talk) 09:48, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Another update
I am going to try to work up a draft of this article. I do have the citations for various facts etc., but I intend to go back and add them later.

Draft only
Hurricane Camille in Virginia in 1969 was the state's worst natural disaster as of 2012. The event is particularily notable not only due to the substantial loss of life and property, but because it struck both unexpectedly and with forces never seen before in the recorded history of the state.

The unique circumstances motivated considerable study and helped sceintists and public safety officials improve their ability to warn and respond. However, even 40 years later, although much was learned, scientists still do not fully understand or agree on many of the factors which apparently combined to wreak a the devastation never seen in Virginia before.

Weather and terrain in Virginia
Virginia is a coastal state along the mid-Atlantic seaboard. The sandy coastal plain and tidal rivers extend inland an average of 70-80 miles to the fall line, roughly paralleling Interstate 95, where rapids in the rivers define the head of navigation. (Fredericksburg, Richmond and Petersburg are located at such points). Upstream, the terrain to the west of the fall-line is more hilly and rocky and is called the Piedmont. To its west are the Blue Ridge Mountains, beyond which is the Shenandoah Valley and the Appalachian Mountains. At its widest along the southern side, from east-to-west the state extends approximately 400 miles, narrowing to perhaps 100 at the northern borders.

In Virginia and other U.S. coastal states along the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes have long been a fact of life and a frequent threat. Some what different storms, called Nor'easter, also threaten the coastal regions with some regularity. Coastal residents are generally aware of the risks and have periodically suffered great losses, mostly of property. In 1962, the Ash Wednesday Storm was Nor'easter which dumped record snow in the mountains, but had its greatest devastation on the Atlantic Coast.

In the mountain regions, springs, rainfall and melting snow drain through small valleys between higher points which acre often called "hollows." Periodic flash flooding of normally docile or even dry creek beds can turn these and the rivers they feed into raging torrents. In many areas, a flood plain thus created may provide fertile land for cultivation. However, virtually all of the residents learned at an early date to build their homesteads well above any level such a waterway had ever risen to,and later generations usually embraced that wisdom as well.

Thus, in Virginia, it is fair to say that hurricanes and severe coastal weather and flash floods, depending upon largely upon region, were known hazards to be alert for upon approaching conditions and prepared for during and after the events.

Hurricane Camille in the Gulf Coast
Camille was one of only two hurricanes which we now rate as Category 5 to strike the mainland of the United States in the 20th century, and she was a monster. Coming ashore along the Gulf Coasts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Lousianna, about 200 miles east of predictions, she brought a tidal surge and record high winds which virtually obliterated everything.

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, and long after the National Weather Service had downgraded.

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