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Hurricane Gustav
Pre- and Post-Storm Photo Comparisons - Chandeleur Islands, LA
The Chandeleur Islands form the eastern flank of Louisiana and have historically eroded landward about 12 m/yr. Past hurricanes, such as Camille in 1969, have breached the islands in many places. After each storm, the islands have recovered, at least to some extent, and many of the breaches have closed. During Hurricane Katrina (August 29, 2005), however, the island lost 85% of its surface area in a few hours and has struggled afterwards to rebuild naturally. In the three years since the storm, over 50% of the shore has continued to erode. Hurricane Gustav (September 1, 2008) appears to have setback any recovery to the islands even further, by waves overwashing sand landward and attacking the marsh platforms on which the beach and dunes of the Chandeleurs are built. The amount of change appears qualitatively greater than what occurred along the central coast much closer to landfall. The amount of change will be quantified with before and after surveys with airborne lidar.
Location Map. Green line represents storm track.
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Location 4: Oblique aerial photography of the Chandeleur Islands, LA, from July 17, 2001 (top left); August 31, 2005, two days after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina (top right); June 24, 2008 (bottom left); and September 4, 2008, three days after the landfall of Hurricane Gustav (bottom right). Yellow cross-hairs indicate a common reference location within the images. [larger version] |
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Location 5: Oblique aerial photography of the Chandeleur Islands, LA, from July 17, 2001 (top left); August 31, 2005, two days after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina (top right); June 24, 2008 (bottom left); and September 4, 2008, three days after the landfall of Hurricane Gustav (bottom right). Yellow cross-hairs indicate a common reference location within the images. [larger version] |
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Location 6: Oblique aerial photography of the Chandeleur Islands, LA, from July 17, 2001 (top left); August 31, 2005, two days after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina (top right); June 24, 2008 (bottom left); and September 4, 2008, three days after the landfall of Hurricane Gustav (bottom right). Yellow cross-hairs indicate a common reference location within the images. [larger version] |
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
