THE SURPRISING LACK OF RELIABLE HISTORICAL HURRICANE STORM SURGE DATA

One of the deadliest aspects of hurricanes and other coastal storms is the storm surge–the local and temporary rise in water level above the normal astronomical tide. Historically, 90% of hurricane-related deaths have been attributed to the storm surge, such as the 1900 hurricane that killed at least 6,000 in Galveston, Texas. In the United States today, storm surge is no longer such a threat because of watches and warnings, evacuation, and sheltering, but it is still devastating in developing nations. The storm surge associated with great hurricanes can range from 4-7 meters or greater.

Researchers of hurricane impacts often hit roadblocks when trying to analyze the surge of historical storms. The National Hurricane Center's Tropical Cyclone Reports contain comprehensive information on each storm, dating back only to 1958. Several federal agencies (FEMA, NOAA, Army Corps of Engineers) have unpublished reports for some storms but not for all. Older hurricanes may have public or private reports. Access to reports is difficult. Determining the existence is often difficult or impossible. Moreover, even for those archived storms, the storm surge data is often sketchy at best.

Why all the problems with reliable storm surge data? For older hurricanes it was probably a combination of lack of understanding of the importance, lack of reliable surveying devices, and the overwhelming need to concentrate on rescue and recovery efforts. For more recent hurricanes, very precise storm surge measurements are available, but there often aren’t enough of them. Some measurements are unreliable, estimated, or in error. Detailed reports of how, when, where, and by whom measurements are made often are lacking. And measurements from the fringes of the hurricane landfall area often are not made at all because of lower damages in these areas, and the deeming of such data as unimportant.

This project is drawing together all available data on historical storm surge, published or unpublished, and tabulate the data along with information on the methodology used to collect the data and reliability of the measurements. Future investigators will be able to access a single queryable, searchable database of storm surge data.