I can't believe Camille isn't in that list of retired names. It was one of the worst I can remember in my lifetime.
Bimp
It is retired. And it WAS a bad storm. Friends of mine lost everything they had - nothing was left but a bare lot with some plumbing sticking up. They lived a little way inland just west of Biloxi.
Here's the complete list:
Atlantic Storms Retired Into Hurricane History
Agnes (1972§*): Florida, Northeast U.S.
Alicia (1983*): North Texas
Allen (1980*): Antilles, Mexico, South Texas
Andrew (1992*): Bahamas, South Florida, Louisiana
Anita (1977): Mexico
Audrey (1957§*): Louisiana, North Texas
Betsy (1965§*): Bahamas, Southeast Florida, Southeast Louisiana
Beulah (1967*): Antilles, Mexico, South Texas
Bob (1991*): North Carolina & Northeast U.S.
Camille (1969§*): Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama
Carla (1961§*): Texas
Carmen (1974): Mexico, Central Louisiana
Carol (1954§*): Northeast U.S.
Cesar (1996): Honduras
Celia (1970*): South Texas
Cleo (1964*): Lesser Antilles, Haiti, Cuba, Southeast Florida
Connie (1955§): North Carolina
David (1979): Lesser Antilles, Hispañola, Florida and Eastern U.S.
Diana (1990): Mexico
Diane (1955§*): Mid-Atlantic U.S. & Northeast U.S.
Donna (1960§*): Bahamas, Florida and Eastern U.S.
Dora (1964*): Northeast Florida
Edna (1968)
Elena (1985*): Mississippi, Alabama, Western Florida
Eloise (1975*): Antilles, Northwest Florida, Alabama
Fifi (1974): Yucatan Peninsula, Louisiana
Flora (1963): Haiti, Cuba
Floyd (1999): North Carolina, eastern seaboard
Fran (1996): North Carolina
Frederic (1979*): Alabama and Mississippi
Gilbert (1988): Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Gloria (1985*): North Carolina, Northeast U.S.
Hattie (1961): Belize, Guatemala
Hazel (1954§*): Antilles, North and South Carolina
Hilda (1964§*): Louisiana
Hortense (1996)
Hugo (1989*): Antilles, South Carolina
Inez (1966): Lesser Antilles, Hispanola, Cuba, Florida Keys, Mexico
Ione (1955*): North Carolina
Janet (1955): Lesser Antilles, Belize, Mexico
Joan (1988): Curacao, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua (Crossed into the Pacific and became Miriam)
Klaus (1990): Martinique
Lenny (1999): Antilles
Luis (1995)
Marilyn (1995): Bermuda
Mitch (1998): Central America, Nicaragua, Honduras
Opal (1995): Florida Panhandle
Roxanne (1995): Yucatan Peninsula
KEY
§Within the list of top 37 deadliest U.S. hurricanes
* Within the list of the top 31 costliest U.S. hurricanes (in 1990 dollars)
(Measurements only available through 1992 for storms that affected the U.S.)
NOTES: "Carol" was used again to denote a hurricane in the Mid-Atlantic Ocean in 1965. However, because the name does not appear after that time, it is assumed that the name was retired retrospectively for the damages caused by the 1954 storm of the same name.
The (2001) names "Allison", "Iris', and "Michelle" will be proposed for retirement when the World Meteorological Organization's Regional Association-IV meets in the Spring, 2002.
For more information contact National Hurricane Center public affairs at (305) 229-4404 or visit the NHC Web site at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.
I can't believe Hazel didn't make it either.
1954 - Friends of my parents had a beach house at Myrtle Beach, SC. Nothing left of it but a plumbing pipe sticking alone in the air with the bathtub still attached.
Insurance company said they wouldn't pay a claim because it was destroyed by flood waters.
Lucky for them, the husband had his name and address in his shirts. Couple in Conway, SC (15-20 miles away) found one of his shirts in their yard and called him.
Shirt was proof that the hurricane "winds" destroyed the house and not flood waters, so insurance company was forcd to pay the claim.
Camille, with monstrous winds of over 200 mph, should be very close to the top of any hurricane list, if not at the top.