Ike's Size Will Cause Extra Large Storm Surge

HOUSTON-Hurricane Ike's gargantuan size-not its strength-will likely push an extra large storm surge inland in a region already prone to it, experts said Thursday.Ike's giant girth means more water piling up on Texas and Louisiana coastal areas for a longer time, topped with bigger waves. So storm surge-the prime killer in hurricanes-will be far worse than a typical storm of Ike's strength, the National Hurricane Center said.And because coastal waters in Texas and Louisiana are so shallow, storm surge is usually larger there than in other regions, according to storm experts. A 1900 hurricane following a similar track to Ike inundated Galveston Island, killing at least 8,000 people-America's deadliest storm."It's a good recipe for surge," said Benton McGee, supervisory hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey's storm surge center in Ruston, La. "We're already seeing water being piled up in the Gulf. On top of that you're going to have water forced into the bays along the coast."The National Hurricane Center is forecasting a 20-foot surge-a rapid rising of water inundating areas and moving inland-for a large swath of Texas and the Louisiana coasts. Above that, the center predicts "large and dangerous battering waves." Waves could be 50 feet tall, said hurricane center spokesman and meteorologist Dennis Feltgen.Some computer models have waves topping out at 70 feet, but the waves usually break well before hitting shore, so the maximum usually doesn't get quite that high."It's going to do tremendous damage over a large area even if its doesn't strengthen anymore," predicted former hurricane center director Max Mayfield.That's directly due to Ike's size. Experts are trying to figure out when they've seen a storm this wide. Ike's tropical storm force winds stretch for 510 miles, and weather radar from Galveston to Key West can see its outer bands. That's about 70 percent larger than an average hurricane."Because of the very large expanse of hurricane force winds, Ike will create a storm surge well in excess of what would normally be associated with a storm of its intensity," the National Hurricane Center warned late Thursday afternoon.Areas that have a hurricane warning-Morgan City, La., to Baffin Bay, Texas-can expect storm surges up to 20 feet. Areas with a tropical storm warning-Baffin Bay to Port Mansfield, Texas, and Morgan City to the Mississippi-Alabama border-can expect five to seven feet of storm surge, Feltgen said.The size and relatively slow speed means more water keeps building, pushing inland for hours after Ike hits the coast, McGee said.
To read more go to:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,421302,00.html
As in the days of Noah..