SUPERSTORM BETTINA (2023): IMPACT ON THE BARRIER COAST OF UKRAINE AND COMPARISON WITH SUPERSTORM SANDY (USA, 2012)

A late-season tropical storm Bettina (25-29 November 2023) had a substantial impact in Eastern Europe. Beginning in Mediterranean, it resulted in massive wind damage, flooding, and cliff erosion, which extended from the coast of Ukraine (Odessa Bay, through Crimean Peninsula, and parts of the Sea of Azov) to the eastern coastline of the Black Sea. In addition to retreat along mainland coasts, numerous instances of overwash and breaching in remote sections of non-tidal barriers have been recorded by satellite and areal imagery. New prorva (breach) sites appeared along the narrow sections of Tendra-Dzharylgach barrier system, with some recently closed channels reactivated by storm surge. Seaward-directed winds within large bays likely caused water-level setup that, combined with anti-barometer effect, accelerated barrier breaching similar to ebb-surge mechanism along tidal coasts. Along east-facing coasts (e.g., Arabat Spit) offshore winds counteracted storm surge from the Sea of Azov, which caused flooding earlier that month. Overtop (aggradation), overwash, and breaching are similar to those generated by another late-season event – Superstorm Sandy (27-30 October, 2012). In the landfall region of the microtidal coast of central New Jersey, USA, the geological legacy of this event has been investigated using geophysical (georadar) and sedimentological approaches. Here, the post-storm response and preservation of paleotempestological record differed in highly developed versus undeveloped sections of narrow barriers, with the latter being more common along the coasts impacted by Bettina. Due to military operations and current occupation along the northern Black Sea and the Azov Sea coasts of Ukraine, field research has been hampered and remotely sensed databases, complemented by eye-witness accounts, provide the only evidence of rapidly changing conditions.