Scientist: Tropical Storm Bill caused moderate beach damage
By CAIN BURDEAU
Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS --
Tropical Storm Bill caused about one year's worth of beach erosion in at least two spots along Louisiana's coast, a leading scientist said.
Shea Penland, a beach expert with the University of New Orleans, said surveys show that Bill eroded between 20 and 30 feet of beach on the Isles Dernieres barrier islands and that about the same amount eroded on a beach between Belle Pass and Elmer's Island near Port Fourchon.
That amount of beach would normally erode over the course of a year, Penland said on Thursday.
But Bill was light in coastal damage compared to Hurricane Lili and Tropical Storm Isidore last year, he said.
"They eroded, but it wasn't anything like the magnitude we saw last year," Penland said.
Those two storms caused up to 10 years' worth of beach erosion along parts of the coast, Penland said.
"My worry is what lies ahead of us as we head into the peak of the hurricane season in September," Penland said.
Government forecasters predicted a busier-than-normal Atlantic hurricane season with six to nine hurricanes overall, including two to four major storms packing winds of at least 111 mph. Overall, 11 to 15 tropical storms are expected to develop during the season that runs from June 1 to Nov. 30; the historical average is 10 tropical storms and six hurricanes.
Last year, there were 12 tropical storms and four hurricanes, two of them major - a milder season than the National Hurricane Center had predicted (13 tropical storms and six to eight hurricanes, two to three of them major).
Since 1995, forecasters have noted an increase in overall tropical storm and hurricane activity. Officials are warning residents to be prepared.
Bill made landfall southwest of Houma on June 30 and damage from winds and rain was confined to the eastern portion of the eye wall, officials said.
Nine parishes are seeking federal relief from the storm, which caused about $16 million in insured losses as of early July, according to a preliminary post flood report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The report also said that the American Red Cross found 649 homes were damaged by Bill. Red Cross said 22 homes were destroyed and 188 were severely damaged.
Meanwhile, the Louisiana State University AgCenter reported that Bill's heavy rains saturated fields but caused less than 1 percent of serious damage to the sugar cane crop, the report said.