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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On Thursday morning, August 14, 1969, a Navy reconnaissance flight requested by ESSA’s National Hurricane Center intercepted a rapidly developing depression in the Caribbean about 400 miles south of Miami. This was the beginning of one of the worst storms in North Atlantic history: CAMILLE. By Sunday night, August 17, hurricane CAMILLE had struck across the Gulf coast between New Orleans and the Florida panhandle with winds of 190 miles per hour and tides 15 to 30 feet above normal near the eye. The hurricane was the most violent of record for the United States mainland.
The hurricane warning cycle for CAMILLE began after aerial reconnaissance on August 14. Thereafter, the developing storm was kept under virtually continuous surveillance by aerial reconnaissance, environmental satellites, and, as it neared land, coastal weather radars, tide gages, and human observers. CAMILLE’s point of arrival along the coast was forecast about 15 hours before the storm struck, permitting a massive evacuation of the hurricane-conscious population of that area. This 15-hour warning, taken with the high level of individual and community preparedness for such emergencies, saved an estimated 50,000 lives.
The purpose of the ESSA survey team reporting here was to evaluate the performance of the hurricane warning service and related activities during the CAMILLE emergency. To do this, the team focused on the actual warning and reconnaissance activities, and on the responses of municipal and emergency officials in the stricken area. The team’s general conclusions were that:
—The warning system performed in an outstanding manner.
—The accuracy of hurricane prediction and warnings compares favorably with the present state of meteorological science and our present understanding of hurricanes.
—The strong cooperation between Federal, State, and local authorities, the news media, and the public, together with community preparedness, accounted in large part for the saving of lives along the Gulf coast.
CAMILLE did reveal some defects in the hurricane warning system, and pointed up the need to advance the state of the science and supporting technology.
Specifically, the survey team recommended that:
—positive action be taken to ensure the maintenance of community action plans where they now exist, with the ESSA Weather Bureau taking the lead in helping coastal communities develop plans where no preparedness plan existed before.