NoPistons -Mazda Rx7 & Rx8 Rotary Forum

Hurricane Dennis produced a huge storm surge, some areas nearby said it was the highest the water had risen in over 10 years (and these are locations that got hit by a couple of the bad hurricanes last year). There wasn't a whole lot of wind damage, but my boss who surveyed some of the damage at the coastline said it looks like a tsunami hit, and washed everything out to sea as the waters receded.

I just think it's weird how there were only hurricane-force winds about 40 miles wide from the eye, that weakened before shore, yet the storm surge was of epic proportions to some areas.

storm surge info:

Quote:

Storm surge is simply water that is pushed toward the shore by the force of the winds swirling around the storm. This advancing surge combines with the normal tides to create the hurricane storm tide, which can increase the mean water level 15 feet or more. In addition, wind driven waves are superimposed on the storm tide. This rise in water level can cause severe flooding in coastal areas, particularly when the storm tide coincides with the normal high tides. Because much of the United States' densely populated Atlantic and Gulf Coast coastlines lie less than 10 feet above mean sea level, the danger from storm tides is tremendous.

The level of surge in a particular area is also determined by the slope of the continental shelf. A shallow slope off the coast (right, top picture) will allow a greater surge to inundate coastal communities. Communities with a steeper continental shelf (right, bottom picture) will not see as much surge inundation, although large breaking waves can still present major problems. Storm tides, waves, and currents in confined harbors severely damage ships, marinas, and pleasure boats.

Florida's continental shelf, area between the red line and shore is shallower than outside the red line:

http://www.csc.noaa.gov/opis/html/images/conshelf.gif