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Having rode out the Hurricane of 1947, and using my past experience plus the reports as to the intensity of Camille, I thought that the water level would be at least six feet higher than 1947. This would mean that all houses in Clermont Harbor would be under water. I spent most of the day, August 16, 1969, at Clermont Harbor telling people to move out at once; the result was that nearly everyone left for higher ground, many coming to Necaise. By nightfall all exit roads were under water; it was now too late to get out. Camille was to be the worst catastrophy ever to happen to mainland U. S. A. With ever-increasing fury, winds up to 230 miles per hour continued throughout the night. No word could describe the fury of this hurricane. When daylight finally came, one could not believe his own eyes, destruction everywhere you looked. The first day was spent clearing the road to State Highway 53, but once there you could go no farther, the highway was blocked in every direction. Some days later we were able to get within one mile of Clermont Harbor, Mississippi. The destruction there was complete. With great effort we were able to get to The Round House at the east end of Third Street, and to my surprise the lighthouse and the round part of the round house were intact. Although branded as crazy when I built this house, it now proved that a round building would withstand wind and water best. That part of this house of standard construction was completely gone, together with my stock of antiques stored in it. From Lakeshore to Gulfport, Mississippi, it was the same story, complete destruction. For a more complete description of this storm, there are several publications about it; one by "The Sea Coast Echo", Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi.
Following this Hurricane, Vice-President Agnew came to the Gulf Coast, followed by President Nixon, who toured the area, making a speech at Gulfport. President Nixon then came out into the crowd, shook our hands, patting us on the back and telling us that the U. S. Government would help in a big way to put us back on our feet. Little did we know the enormous help that we were to get, remembering the 1947 hurricane at which time we received almost nothing from the U. S. Government. Those of usvfoo had no place to go were transported to an Army camp near Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where they were housed, fed and clothed. The government moved mobile homes by the hundreds into the area, rent free, and the American Red Cross opened relief offices to supply whatever the people needed. The Army Corps of Engineers began clearing highways, bridges, etc., to allow supplies to get in. Within two weeks some electric and telephone service were restored and from then on the massive cleanup job progressed fast. To name all the ways in which the government gave help would require a volume itself, but -the massive cleanup without cost to us was one of the greatest helps. Then loans at low interest rates