Site: Richelieu Manor Apartments- Hurricane Camille, 1969 (Pass Christian, Mississippi)

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Night of August 17, 1969. Hurricane Camille makes landfall as a Category 5 storm at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi just to the west of this point. It is one of only three Category 5 storms to make landfall on the U.S. coastline in the 20th Century, the others being the 1935 “Labor Day” hurricane (Florida Keys), and Hurricane Andrew (Homestead/Miami, FL) in 1992.

Occupying this spot at Camille’s landfall was the Richelieu Manor Apartments, around which has sprung the legend of the “Hurricane Party.” The story goes that as Camille approached, a number of residents determined to ride out the storm and have a party at the same time. As the storm surge came ashore, the entire building was swept off its foundations, killing all but one of the residents.

The origin of this story can be largely traced to Mary Ann Gerlach, who indeed was present at the apartments that night. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, Gerlach was the only survivor who would willingly speak to the media. That, and the famed before and after photographs of the Richelieu Manor site gave credence to her tale. The truth of the matter is that twenty-three persons were known to be in the apartments that night. Eight were killed. The other survivors reticence to talk about their ordeal to the media while Gerlach continued to do so over the years only fueled the legend. Remaining survivors have since stated that there was no party at all in the building that night.

Gerlach herself was later convicted in 1982 for murdering her eleventh husband. Her defense centered around insanity caused by post Camille stress. She was paroled in 1992. Her current whereabouts or fate is unknown.

The site of the apartments at US 90 and Henderson Avenue lay abandoned for many years after the storm. Only the slab of the foundation and some rubble remained. The site was redeveloped into a shopping center sometime in the 1990s.

The whole “Hurricane Party” story has since largely been discredited by serious studies of Camille.

camille.passchristian.net/hurricane_party.htm