Every year, the Gulf Coast is threatened by hurricanes. For the hurricanes that come close to land or actually make land fall, storm surge is often the greatest threat to land resulting from the ensuing hurricane.
Storm Surge is a complex phenomenon that relies on several different factors. Put simply, storm surge occurs when an abnormal water level rise occurs and the water is pushed onto shore by the wind force accompanying a low pressure system such as a tropical cyclone or hurricane. High winds push the ocean’s surface and pile up higher than normal, thus creating a storm surge. Factors that affect the intensity of the surge include: radius of maximum winds, storm intensity, forward speed, angle of approach, shape of coast and the width and slope of the continental shelf.
In addition to the destructive forces of the surge itself, battery waves will often accompany the surge and add to the destructive forces. Because the storm surge extends inland, it allows a pathway for the waves to follow. As noted by the National Hurricane Center: “Water weighs approximately 1,700 pounds per cubic yard; extended pounding by frequent waves can demolish any structure not specifically designed to withstand such forces.”
The devastation created by a storm surge is endless. Examples include: eroded beaches and highways, flooding, devastated buildings, damaged marinas and boats, dead vegetation, homeless animals and human fatalities. It is important to note that most fatalities that accompany a hurricane actually are caused by a storm surge or the accompanying flooding. Also important to note, in areas that usually have low and high tides, storm surges are most damaging during high tides.
By far, the storm surge that was the highest in feet and caused the most catastrophic damage was Hurricane Katrine 2005. Storm surge flooding reached 25 to 28 feet above normal tide levels along the Mississippi Coast and 10 to 20 feet above normal tide levels along the southeastern Louisiana coast. Close behind Katrina was Hurricane Camille 1969 with surge levels reaching 24 feet also along the Mississippi Coast. The largest recorded storm surge occurred in Australia in 1899 when the surge reached heights of 43 feet.
As history has shown us, storm surge is a devastating affect of hurricanes. Unfortunately, areas that are most prone to storm surges, the Atlantic and Gulf, are also densely populated and are responsible for over half of the United State’s economic productivity.
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