Hurricane Camille - 1969

While Beauvoir and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have experienced many severe hurricanes over the years, nothing has approached the destruction and terror brought on by Hurricane Camille on the night of August 17, 1969. It may have been the most powerful hurricane ever to strike the North American continent. Barometer readings as low as 26.63 inches were reported, along with wind speeds as high as 210 miles per hour. First striking Louisiana around the mouth of the Mississippi River, near the towns of Buras and Venice, Camille roared on to strike the Mississippi coast, devastating the cities of Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Ocean Springs, with heavy damage extending far beyond those places. At least 250 lives were lost, with another 100 missing. Some 5,000 homes were totally destroyed and 40,000 heavily damaged. Many businesses were also totally destroyed, and even more were damaged.

One death occured at Beauvoir when an employee died of a heart attack during the storm. Other employees who stayed on the property barely survived.

Although severely damaged, Beauvoir survived Camille as a result of its construction. The raised design prevented the storm surge from flooding the main floor of the house. However, the Davis Family Museum, housed, at that time,  in a more modern enclosed area underneath the antebellum structure, suffered severely.

Extensive repairs had to be made to the house, and a broad campaign was mounted to raise money. People from all over the country contributed, and a massive amount of Beauvoir's funds had to be used. The state of Mississippi made a large appropriation to help. The trees on the property were mangled and littered the entire place. Beauvoir had to be closed for an extended period of time. There have been damaging hurricanes since, but none has approached the disaster of Camille.