Overview

The United States Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines have repeatedly been modified and reshaped by hurricane storm tides over the years. Since the arrival of immigrants from Europe, the coastline has steadily been developed with the addition of many homes and other buildings and an ever increasing coastal population. The consequences of this increase are visible, with each passing year, as hurricanes make landfall at different locations. However, for a specific location along the coast the frequency of an intense hurricane impact is low. Decades may pass between intense storms and in some locations such as New England; there may be hundreds of years between storms. Having an accurate historical data base on the most intense hurricanes is one of the main goals of hurricane research. One of the problems until the advent of reconnaissance flights into hurricanes in the 1940's was determining an intensity at landfall. Early sixteen and seventeen hundred eye-witness accounts of destruction from wind forces tell us little about the intensity. When wind and pressure measuring sensors began appearing in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries they rarely measured near the core of a hurricane where the maximum winds occur. Even when they were in the right place to measure the strongest winds, the device or its support mechanism failed. This problem still plagues us today. Some historical hurricanes had sea-level pressure readings taken as the center passed over and are excellent measures of the intensity. However, almost all of the historical accounts make reference to elevated water levels. Since these water levels are generated by the wind and pressure forces in the hurricane it is yet another measure of intensity. So if one can use a combined storm surge and astronomical tide model and reproduce the observed high water levels then one can deduce the intensity; both sea-level pressure in the eye as well as the maximum wind speed. This will be done for several of the early hurricanes, specifically the Great Colonial hurricane of 1635 and the Great September Gale of 1815. Two other intense hurricanes that impacted New England will also be analyzed: the 1938 hurricane and hurricane Carol in 1954. Seven additional hurricanes and one tropical storm will also be included and each will have its own section in this book.The purpose of this book is to investigate the storm tides reported in each hurricane as well as the intensity at landfall. The hope is that this information will aid emergency management agencies at the federal, state and local level along with individuals residing along the coast to make proper life and property saving decisions when similar hurricanes threaten the region in the future.

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9781505219890

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