Storm surge pushing ocean water ashore during a hurricane
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Courtesy of US Navy and National Weather Service
Storm Surge
One of the most dangerous parts of a hurricane isn’t the rain or the wind. It’s the flooding caused by storm surge.
As a hurricane or other tropical storm moves towards a coast, it can cause sea level to rise higher than normal. The sea level rise only lasts a short time, usually just a few hours, but it can cause lots of damage. Towns along the coast may be totally underwater. Huge ocean waves destroy docks, houses, roads, and erode beaches.
Most storm surge is caused when a storm’s winds push ocean water towards the land. The water is pushed onto land as the storm moves towards the land. Some storm surge is caused by low pressure of the storm. When storm surge happens at high tide, there is even more flooding.
Scientists use a computer model to predict how much storm surge will happen during a storm. They look at the storm’s winds, the path of the storm, the shape of the coast and the shallow ocean bottom to figure out how much storm surge may happen.
Last modified March 12, 2009 by Lisa Gardiner.
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