Katrina brings back
memories of 1969’s Camille
In 1969, my family and I were living in Marshall,
Texas. That summer we visited my grandparents
in Ocean Springs, Miss. We arrived in the afternoon
of Saturday, Aug. 16, anticipating a week of boating,
swimming and lounging on the beach. Unfortunately,
a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico named Camille
had become a Category 5 hurricane and was headed
directly for the Mississippi coast.
On Sunday morning, it was sunny and hot, but
there was tension in the air; all of the adults
seemed excited, talking about the imminent hurricane,
but I really did not know what that meant. We
bought extra food and made sure the flashlights
had batteries and that there was extra water.
As a kid I thought it funny that we had to fill
the bathtub with water (to be used as a reservoir
for dishwater, washing up and flushing the toilet
after the storm).
My father was born in Ocean Springs and my grandfather
was born in or near New Orleans, so they knew
the area and the weather patterns of the coast.
Besides, no one really left for a storm, back
then, anyway. So we planned to stay in my grandparents’
home during the storm, a home he had built by
himself 30 years earlier. So what could be safer?
By dark, the wind was blowing and it was raining
hard. My younger sister and brother were bedded
down on the living room floor and the adults and
I were sitting around the dining room table. I
do not remember what time the power went off,
but we lit the Coleman lantern and talked and
played cards for hours. It was fun, sort of like
camping, but inside.
As the night progressed, I remember the sound
outside growing ever louder, and we actually had
to talk loud at the table to be heard. I distinctly
remember the entire house shaking and vibrating.
I also remember seeing the old double windows
shaking and bulging in their frames. It sounded
like a train was passing right next to the house
for hours.
I remember Monday morning, sunny calm, a really
nice day, until we went outdoors. It was a surreal
scene. Trees had fallen down everywhere. (One
fell right behind the house; the wind had been
so loud during the storm we never heard it fall.)
Houses were damaged and demolished all around
us. We surveyed my grandparents’ house,
which was mostly undamaged.
They did not have a garage, so the cars were
in the driveway. My parents had a new Camaro,
and it, too, was undamaged, but the inside was
very wet and covered with a layer of shredded
pecan leaves that had worked themselves around
the window seals by the force of the wind.
The house was in town, back quite a ways from
the water, so we were not worried about storm
surge, but the town is laced by small bayous and
streams. The storm water did get close to the
house, as we found a debris line just beyond the
back door.
My cousin Frank and I explored the town by bicycle
for the next few days. Along the beach road were
piles of debris and gutted buildings to explore.
It was a scene that neither of us had ever seen
before. I do remember Frank and I being in a gutted
building and getting run out by a very large National
Guard soldier holding a very large gun. I had
never seen anything like that before either!
Everywhere we went, everywhere we looked, there
was destruction. All services were out, no food
stores open, no gasoline, no electricity, phones,
gas or water. What started off as a fun adventure
soon grew tiring and stressful. I guess my family
was lucky; we got to go home after our “vacation”
was over. The following summer we moved to Ocean
Springs. My dad joined in the family business.
Hurricane Katrina brought up many old feelings.
Even though I was here in the Metroplex, I was
very nervous all during the storm. As an adult,
Katrina was more traumatic to me than Camille.
I now own a house and a car and have a family
to protect. After the storm I tried for days to
call aunts, and uncles and cousins. I eventually
got through to all of them. All are OK.
—Steven Benezue is the Gallery Director
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