Storm Surge and Beach Erosion Hurricanes and extreme tropical storms cause elevated sea level near shorelines, known as storm surge, and subsequent extensive shoreline erosion leading to the loss of property and life. The magnitude of this erosion and the extent of geologic impacts cannot yet be predicted with confidence. The variability of shoreline types, including barrier islands of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, and mangroves of southern Florida, makes predictions especially difficult (Sallenger, 1992). Hurricane Georges moved very slowly just before and after landfall, causing extremely high storm surge in the coastal areas of Mississippi and western Alabama. Soon after landfall of Hurricane Georges, crews from the USGS-WRD in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, in cooperation with crews from the USACE-Mobile District, flagged and surveyed highwater marks left behind from the storm surge along the affected area on the Central Gulf Coast (fig. 4). Maximum storm surge high-water marks of about 11 feet were found near Pascagoula, MS, which is within about 1.5 feet of similar marks caused by Hurricane Camille in 1969 (fig. 4).