by Ana Maria
Thirty-eight years ago today Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I was but a child of ten. Our family home had been built on the highest land in Hancock County. We slept in the hall. One of the families in the neighborhood stayed with us bringing their grandkids with them. Great! More people to play with my younger brother and me.
I remember the eye of Hurricane Camille when the storm got deadly silent, truly the calm before the hurricane kicked up all over again but from the opposite direction. Someone opened the door and one of my older brothers had a rope around his waist as he ventured outside to check on the family dog in the shed. Peering out the door, all I could see were trees that Camille had knocked down making the outside appear as though we were inside Sherwood Forest.
My family and our neighbors were lucky. No real lasting damage. Just down the road a mile or so, families took in nine feet of water in their homes. We had a bit of roof damage and nearly every tree in our yard, save three, had been knocked down. But we were safe, had a home, and plenty of running water. At the time, my family’s water came from a neighboring well, which the hurricane did not damage. My family opened up our home to others not so fortunate. People lined up to take cold showers.
Read more at A.M. in the Morning!
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