Came ashore over Cameron on this date in 1957. I was about 50 miles inland from Cameron and the eye passed over us. I remember the intense rain and of course the wind. I don't know that they ever came up with an exact death toll for Cameron and the surrounding area. I remember hearing estimates of over 600 fatalities.
We lived in New Orleans. I was only 5 but remember my parents staying up all night to see where it went.
Dad always references audrey when talking about storms. To him it is the standard by which all are measured.
I know the technology is obviously better now, but a June hurricane is kind of rare. You'd think it would only be a Cat 1 or something like that, but it must have packed a punch if it had enough storm surge to kill 600 from one area. It must have hit at night.
It was so long ago, I don't remember what time it came ashore. I do remember that the stated reason for so many deaths was that the people along the coast didn't heed the warnings and evacuate.
That was before they had the technology to track hurricane movements with satellites. I would imagine that the accuracy of the weather reports were pretty sketchy. In 1900 a hurricane killed 6000 people in Galveston. Those poor people probably had no idea what they were in store for.
For mine (and me to some extent; I was 6), it was Camille. Lived in New Orleans, and even with the eye coming ashore 80 miles to the east, it was a mean night.
I was in Florida when it hit. When we were driving back the Mississippi gulf coast was unrecognizable. You could even tell which town you were in. I remember seeing a large ship that had been pushed ashore by the wind and waves blocking the road and they had built a detour around it.
Dad said it's spawned right off shore and came ashore with no warning. But that was 1957 so who really knows.
