Nelson County, Virginia
No other single event reshaped Nelson County, Virginia like Hurricane Camille did back in August of 1969. By the time the storm reached, and then parked over Nelson on August 19, 1969 it had already caused widespread destruction two days before after coming ashore on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
But it was here in Nelson where the storm sat and rained furiously for hours on end flooding out major portions of the county and killing dozens of people in the process. After it was all done nearly 2 feet of rain had fallen in less than 24 hours.
Above on Sunday – August 18, 2019 a 50 year remembrance ceremony was held at Nelson County High in Lovingston.
Many presentations and ceremonies have been held and published over the last several days. During the past 15 years we’ve put out our magazine we too have covered the history of Camille in many different ways. Several survivors of the storm that lost family in the floods say it’s simply too painful to talk about, even half century later.
Above photos from A Visual History of Lynchburg. Showing the damage from Camille. To see the entire collection click on the Hurricane Camille Aftermath in Nelson County – August 1969 link above or click here.
Today we honor and remember all of those that perished in Hurricane Camille. And thank all of those that assisted in the recovery as it happened, and years later as Nelson continued to rebuild.
More articles and events on Camille from our website archives by clicking here.
