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How many folks got the answer to Camille in 48 hours?)

I'm glad you brought up Camille for a little perspective on just how drastically catastrophic Camille was versus Katrina and how people responded to the two events, i.e., their vastly different expectations of what "aid" from 'big daddy gubment' meant.

I remember Camille vividly. Hurricane warnings came late - too late for some, and not at all for others. The amount of destruction was enormous. 70% of all taxable property in Pass Christian was lost; Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana was completely destroyed as were towns from Gulport to Biloxi and beyond. 27 miles of coast was scoured for several blocks inland, structures were just gone. Hundreds of bloated, drowned cattle floated in the bay, attracting sharks for weeks. Only one highway survived intact in Virginia; uprooted trees swept along by flashfloods acted as battering rams, taking out bridges and homes.

There was no Fema back then, but there was a Office of Emergency Preparedness, which coordinated some 25 agencies. Along the coast, initial assistance came mostly from the Red Cross shelters and DoD personnel stationed in the area, and neighbors helping each other. I remember the bridge between Ocean Springs and Biloxi ended up about half-a-mile out to sea, so the only way to get to Ocean Springs from Biloxi for many months was via a very crowded ferry. We were without electricity for at least two or three weeks and martial law prevailed (although there was very little looting). Noone expected special treatment.

I don't recall any bellyaching against the President during the aftermath of Camille - people pulled together and just dealt with it. In fact, the Only bellyaching I ever heard was against the Red Cross for charging cleanup volunteers 10cents for a lousy cup of hot coffee!

People received rebuilding loans (which, along with insurance, took months to get), but nobody was handing out free money for the asking and nobody expected it - one was expected to cash in their US savings bonds, and use their own savings - you got food, water, blankets, clothing and shoes, and a RedCross shelter cot if you needed a place to stay. A few lucky ones got government trailers once miles of roads were cleared; the rest of us just made do. I guess it was just a simpler, prouder, more self-reliant time back then.

best regards, blu

from: http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/about_us/meet_us/roger_pielke/camille/report.html
"The wide range of possible landfall locations greatly complicated preparation efforts. Figure 3 shows the forecast displacement errors. By official estimates, 81,000 out of 150,000 people in the evacuation area were moved to safety..."

"... messages coming from different sources led to dire consequences and likely resulted in many misinformed residents remaining in their homes when they should have evacuated...Wilkinson and Ross (1970) provides an example where a “highly emotional plea to get out" was being issued over Biloxi television Sunday, as a newscaster in New Orleans was reported to have read only the general forecast and then returned to broadcasting music. Another example from Wilkinson and Ross (1970) tells of an out-of-town radio station re-running earlier bulletins, even after new ones had been broadcast over another station. "
Storm waters rose to 22.6 feet at Pass Christian, 17 feet behind Pass Christian, 21.6 feet at Long Beach, 21 feet at Gulfport, 19.5 feet at Biloxi, and 15 feet on the Biloxi Bay (USACE 1970) (Figure 4).

"The Department of Defense contributed greatly to the relief process, with a total of 16,500 military personnel from numerous divisions (OEP 1969, p. 9)... Battalions cleared 575 miles of roads and removed more than 37,000 tons of debris (OEP 1969, p. 10).

"The Department of the Treasury responded quickly to the financial concerns and demands of the communities affected by the hurricane. Emergency offices, at a cost of $20,000 (1969 dollars), were established to disburse checks to those receiving rehabilitation loans. Through December 10, 1969, 75,000 checks were delivered, totaling $25 million (1969 dollars) in rehabilitation loans (OEP 1969, p. 5). "[BluNote: bear in mind, the hurricane occurred Aug 17th, so some waited up to 4 months for loans]