Texas people... Storm Surge

[CharleySurvivor]

How low is the land between Corpus to Galveston to about Orange (don't know what city is closes to the TX/LA border coast) along the coast? I know of Corpus and Galveston but wondering about the land in between.

Is there a possibility of a strong surge with major destruction like MS/AL got from Katrina if Rita is to land as a strong hurricane in TX?

[jasons2k]

Absolutely. The surge with Carla was massive. Indianola was wiped off the map in the 1800's.

Look at Galveston 1900 if you want to know what a TX surge can be like. Not pretty.

[MGC]

I drove from Corpus Christi along highway 35 last summer to Galveston. The land there is low. The threat of surge is high in that area. If a Cat 4 with a large circulation simular to Katrina would strike that area I'm certain the surge would approach 25 feet. If Rita hits the Galveston area it would be like a one-two punch. Add another 100 billion plus to the hurricane damage total for 2005.....MGC

[Mac]

I can tell you from first hand experience that there is a major storm surge issue in the Clear Lake/Seabrook/Kemah area, which is about 28 miles north of Galveston. I lived on Clear Lake during Alicia, and Nasa Road 1--a road that runs along the shoreline of Clear Lake--sits about 18 foot above the lake under normal conditions. During Alicia, water covered Nasa Road 1 in some places. And that was for a minimal Cat 3 'cane.

The geography in this area is particularly susceptible to storm surge. Basically, the storm surge from the Gulf runs into Galveston Bay. Once it gets to the top of Galveston Bay, it funnels into Clear Lake, which is attached to Galveston Bay. Everything keeps funneling the water...getting narrower and narrower. Eventually, the water has nowhere to go but up.

If a strong cat 4 were to hit Galveston, the storm surge in Clear Lake would be simply unbelievable. And the area has been massively developed since Alicia--with very expensive homes. I would guesstimate the storm surge in the Clear Lake area--28 miles inland from the Gulf--to approach 30 to 35 feet if a strong cat 4 hit close to Galveston.

[curtadams]

Absolutely. Surge is the most (though hardly the only) serious issue with Rita. Dry land air will probably take her winds down a notch on landfall (although ANY hurricane wind is dangerous) but she might well pull a Katrina and get BIG and POWERFUL out in the gulf. Even if she weakens before landfall all the water she's blown up will still slosh ashore. The complex TX coast can focus that in poorly predicted ways. Somebody's probably going to see a 20+ surge.