An issue that Gulf Coast coastal resource managers note is a tendency for community and elected officials, members of the public, and others to confuse flooding and storm surge.
Below are a few common terms defined.
- Storm Surge: An abnormal rise in sea level accompanying a hurricane or other intense storm determined by the difference between the height of the observed water level and the predicted tide. Storm surge from hurricanes is the element that has the potential to cause the most deaths. It can be 50 or more miles wide and sweeps across the coastline to the east side of where the hurricane makes landfall. Typically, the stronger the hurricane, the greater the storm surge.
- Coastal Flooding: The inundation of land areas along the coast caused by higher than normal tides.
- Flood: The inundation of a normally dry area caused by an increased water level in a river, stream, or other watercourse, or the ponding of water at or near the point where rain has fallen. While storm surge has been the number one cause of hurricane-related deaths in the past, many people have also died from inland flooding associated with tropical systems over the past 30 years.
