Along the coast, storm surge is often the greatest threat to life and property from a hurricane. Storm surge is produced by water being pushed toward the shore by the force of the winds moving cyclonically around the storm. The impact on surge of the low pressure associated with intense storms is minimal in comparison to the water being forced toward the shore by the wind. Captions and Image source: NOAA
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Last year’s devastating flooding in New York City from Hurricane Sandy was the city’s largest storm surge on record. Though Hurricane Sandy was considered a 100-year-event, a storm that lashes a region only once a century, a new study finds global warming could bring similar destructive storm surges to the Gulf and East Coasts of the United States every other year before 2100.
Severe storms generate both high waves and storm surge, which can combine to erode beaches and dunes and flood coastal communities…
