Storm surges come in many shapes, sizes, and strengths. Whether a storm is classified as tropical storm, or as a hurricane, each storm surge has its own kind of destructiveness, and even if some are historically worse than others, they each have their own price to pay. Generally speaking, a storm surge is defined as a sudden rush of waters that hit the coastline in conjunction with a tropical storm. Onlookers have described storm surges to look like dark green or even black walls of ocean water that may be as high as twenty feet.  It has been estimated that these walls of water can be anywhere between 50 and 100 miles long, and in a single moment of landfall destroy an entire group of homes and businesses located in their path. As a matter of fact, most hurricane fatalities are estimated to occur during the storm surge phase rather than during any other phase of the storm.

While very often you associate the damage done by storm surges as simple property damage, it is important to note that such monetary losses are only secondary. Granted, when it is your home that is swept away by a storm surge, it is nearly the end of the world, yet the loss of life is so much more serious, and as was stated previously, fatalities are quite often the result of drowning that occurs during the storm surge.  Take for example 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane that descended on Puerto Rico, Florida, the Leeward Islands as well as the Bahamas.  Deaths due to flooding and the storm surges are estimated at about 4,000 lives, but the odds are that there were many more deaths.

Another example is the Bhola Cyclone that hit Bangladesh on November 13, 1970.  While it is hard to tell for sure just how many people were swept out to sea during the cyclone, it has been cautiously estimated that 500,000 died due to drowning. What added to the deadliness of this storm surge is the fact that much of the population was living in low-lying areas where the flooding did not recede for days to come.

To further illustrate the deadly consequences of the destructiveness of storm surges, you need to look no further than the August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina that devastated Mississippi, New Orleans, and Louisiana. The storm surge associated with the hurricane made landfall in such a violent way that levees were breached quickly and added to the flooding of the cities. The death toll may be as high as 1,836, but some estimate the numbers to be much higher.

Considering the deadly consequences of storm surges and their destructive powers, what can you do to survive them?

First and foremost, do not join the ranks of the observers who like to congregate on shore to watch the clouds and waves arrive.  Sadly, these souls are usually the first to be swept up by the waters, which arrive much faster than you can anticipate or even outrun them, and the sheer force with which the surge waters will slam into the surrounding infrastructure will most likely kill them.

If you receive governmental warnings that the storm surge is coming and that everyone needs to evacuate their homes and head for higher ground, do so.  It you have time, turn off the water, electricity and gas at the main switches before you leave.  This is not the time to wait things out and see if maybe the force of the storm will dissipate, but instead this is the time to run as fast as possible to get away. 

 

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