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Lessons Learned, Lessons Lost |
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In 1969, Hurricane Camille, a Saffir/Simpson Category 5 hurricane, made landfall as the most powerful tropical cyclone to directly strike the United States in the 20th Century. Since Camille, no other Category 5 storm has hit the U.S., and only two Category 4 storms have made landfall since Camille: Hugo in 1989 and Andrew in 1992. These events represent a somewhat limited base of experience on which to develop policies that would reduce vulnerability to extreme hurricane impacts. Meanwhile, as extreme hurricane activity has been quiet, U.S. society has seen a dramatic rush to the coast, with millions of people moving to hurricane-prone locations. Arguably, the nation today is more vulnerable to hurricane impacts than at any time in recent decades. The thirtieth anniversary of Camille's landfall presents an opportunity to raise the issue of a national hurricane policy and to assess what has been learned in the three decades since. This report addresses Camille's impacts, what Camille taught us (and what we have learned) about reducing the nation's vulnerability to those impacts, and the prospects for policy action to better prepare for the inevitable Camilles of the future.
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