Monitoring inland storm surge and flooding from Hurricane Ike in Texas and Louisiana, September 2008

Abstract

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a temporary monitoring network of 117 pressure transducers (sensors) at 65 sites over an area of about 5,000 square miles to record the timing, areal extent, and magnitude of inland hurricane storm surge and coastal flooding generated by Hurricane Ike, which struck southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana September 12-13, 2008. Fifty-six sites were in Texas and nine were in Louisiana. Sites were categorized as surge, riverine, or beach/wave on the basis of proximity to the Gulf Coast. Onehundred five sensors from 59 sites (fig. 1) were recovered; 12 sensors from six sites either were lost during the storm or were not retrieved. All 59 sites (41 surge, 10 riverine, 8 beach/ wave) had sensors to record water pressure (fig. 2), which is expressed as water level in feet above North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88), and 46 sites had an additional sensor to record barometric pressure, expressed in pounds per square inch. Figure 3 shows an example of water level and barometric pressure over time recorded by sensors during the storm.Data were collected and processed following protocols established by McGee and others (2005), which included correcting water pressure for changes in barometric pressure and salinity. Quality-control checks were made by colocating water-level sensors at a subset of sites and comparing data from those sensors to water levels computed from recorded pressure data at those sites; and by comparing water levels computed from recorded pressure data to water levels recorded at nearby USGS gaging stations and to independent high-water marks where possible. Elevation surveys using global position-ing systems (fig. 4) and differential levels were done to relate all water-level data, reference marks, benchmarks, and sensor measuring points to NAVD88.The data from the Hurricane Ike storm-surge network constitute an extensive collection of continuous water-level records documenting a single land-falling hurricane. The data can be used to evaluate the performance of storm-surge models for maximum and incremental water level and flood extent and site-specific effects of storm surge on natural and anthropogenic elements of the environment. The data are available on a provisional basis in tab-delimited, ASCII format by site for each sensor (see table 1 at http://pubs.usgs. gov/of/2008/1365/). Data for each site comprise date, time, water level, corresponding water pressure, barometric pressure, temperature from water-pressure sensor, temperature from barometric-pressure sensor, and indicators of missing data. The data-processing date is in the file header. The data also are available in a single folder at http://pubs.usgs.gov/ of/2008/1365/.

Scaling coastal dune elevation changes across storm‐impact regimes

“…Post‐storm data collected on 18 September 2008 indicated that significant coastal change occurred over the entire peninsula due to primarily inundation processes. Water levels at multiple locations observed by USGS water level gauges deployed in advance of the storm [ East et al , ] showed that water level ( R low ) peaked at 4.3 m on the ocean side of Bolivar Peninsula. NDBC buoy 42035 near Galveston, Texas, recorded a maximum significant wave height of 6 m before going adrift [ Doran et al , ].…”

Inundation and Destruction on the Bolivar Peninsula During Hurricane Ike

“…These instruments included Gauge Y, which was located directly offshore of the Bolivar Peninsula. Additional water level data was available from USGS rapidly-deployed surge gauges (East et al, 2008). Of these, gauges GAL-1 and GAL-2 were on the open coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and 2.1km inland at the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), respectively.…”

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union Volume 91, Number 7, 16 February 2010

“…The region of interest is broadly defined using NOAA's meteorological forecasts of the hurricane track and its uncertainty. Guided by forecast information, USGS successfully deployed storm surge sensors at 59 locations along the coast, including beach, inland, and riverine settings [East et al, 2008]. NOAA's existing analysis of hurricane scenarios and numerically simulated surge elevations ("maximum of the maximum" surge, or MOMS) for hurricane categories 1-5 were used to characterize storm surge threats in the region of interest.…”

“…Recovery of USGS in situ storm surge sensors took place in the week after landfall [East et al, 2008]. Figure 2d compares the probabilistic (10% exceedence) storm surge prediction with the observations.…”