Night of Terror: Hurricane Camille hits Nelson County
Creator
Branch, Heather D.
McFadden, Betty
Huffman, Carl
Fitzgerald, Francis H.
Fitzgerald, Francis K.
August 19, 1969 is a day that many people in Nelson County, Virginia remember very well. Camille was a Category 5 hurricane when it hit land, and although it was no longer a hurricane when it passed over Nelson County, Virginia, it was still a storm with a devastating amount of rain and wind. The storm dropped between 12 and 27 inches of rain (depending on where in the county) in a 5 hour period and stalled over the county causing flooding, and landslides. Heather D. Branch interviewed four people who lived through and remember very well the storm and its aftermath. This interview is among projects created by students enrolled in English 446 (initially English 452), “Appalachian Folklore,” 1981-2019, and in graduate level counterparts English 548 and 648 “Appalachian Folk Culture(s)” offered 17 fall semesters between 1987 and 2009. Minimally contain collector’s introduction and analysis, transcribed informant interviews, and excerpted and labeled examples of oral, customary, and/or material folklore/folklife collected primarily within the Appalachian region. Most include also tables of contents, informant information, indexes (outlines) of interviews, photographs, miscellaneous paper items, and indexes of informants, genres, and geographic locations. Accompanying audio recordings (several minutes to 2+ hours). Transferred to McConnell Library Archives & Special Collections from Appalachian Regional and Rural Studies Center, Fall 2013.