Just getting back home...

[SWLA]

to Erath, Louisiana. Incredible storm surge flooding in this area. Does
anyone have any estimates as to how high the surge was in the Vermilion
Bay area? The water on the south side of town was easily 3-6 feet deep
in some places and we are at least 10 miles from the north shore of the
bay. Thanks in advance.

[jax]

it's estimated the surge was 15 feet....

[djtil]

any flooding 10 miles inland is due to heavy rains, river flooding, runoff, etc.......no affect from ocean surge.

[Clint_TX]

U sure about that Chico? 10mi is nothing if the slope is low enough...

[djtil]

yes, positive.

[Clint_TX]

Got it

[FunkMasterB]

Once again, djtil, you don't know what you're talking about.

That was almost all surge from the Gulf/Vermillion River. That whole area is marsh land, so it's very susceptible to storm surge.

[djtil]

i believe i mentioned river flooding.

let me check....yep.

[FunkMasterB]

Yes, but it isn't river flooding from rain and runoff as you suggested, it's because the Gulf filled the river. It's still surge from the Gulf traveling up the river.

Ariel photos showed quite clearly that from just south of Abbeville, there was nothing but water all the way to the Gulf. That's storm surge, not rain and runoff.

[djtil]

yes, but it would be a specific surge forecast for that river...knowing what the gulf surge was wouldnt tell you what the river surge 10 miles inland was.....i was just pointing out that surge that occured 10miles inland wasnt due to the ocean surge barrelling over land.....i should have been clearer.

[FunkMasterB]

inland wasnt due to the ocean surge barrelling over land.....i should have been clearer.

But the storm surge DID barrel over land all that distance. But the term "land" in this case is somewhat of a misnomer because it's mostly marshland/bayou/lakes etc. The river surge alone is not responsible for the widespread flooding there, there isn't enough water in the Vermillion River to do it. The Vermillion overflowing was just a small part of a much larger picture.

[wlfpack81]

Funk is correct. You can have situations where the surge from the Gulf (or Atlantic) gets pushed up a particular river that opens into the Gulf, Atlantic (or Bay) and can cause flooding farther inland. Additionally areas south of I-10 in SW LA are very flat and marshy so you can be 10mi inland but if you're only 5ft above sea level then it is possible for Gulf surge to still reach that area. I'm not exactly sure of the elevation 10mi from the Gulf coast in that part of LA but I suspect it's still very low given the many marshes etc.

[Derek Ortt]

typically in Louisiana, the tidal surge goes 25-30 miles inland since right after the immediate coast is marsh

[wlfpack81]

And if you want a good example of possible worst case scenarios with surge being pushed into bays, then into rivers go do a Google search on Hampton Roads and check out the set up there. Storm moving wnw making landfall just north of VA/NC border would push the Atlantic into the s-ern Chesepeake Bay and then all that water would get pushed into the James River, York River, Elizabeth River (flows into Norfolk) and all the many other creeks, streams we have in that area not to mention the fact that area is very marshy and a lot of places (such as the part of Hampton I'm from) were built overtop of these marshes.

[CajunMama]

Funk is correct. You can have situations where the surge from the Gulf (or Atlantic) gets pushed up a particular river that opens into the Gulf, Atlantic (or Bay) and can cause flooding farther inland. Additionally areas south of I-10 in SW are very flat and marshy so you can be 10mi inland but if you're only 5ft above sea level then it is possible for Gulf surge to still reach that area. I'm not exactly sure of the elevation 10mi from the Gulf coast in that part of LA but I suspect it's still very low given the many marshes etc.

And no offesnse djtil but sometimes in your posts it seems you always want to downplay the possible damages from storms. You did it w/Katrina when I believe you said there wouldn't be more than 24 deaths overall when we're now at just over 1,000 (I remember that thread and comment b/c IMO all the factors pointed to death toll being way over 24). Yes the doom and gloomers here (myself guilty at times) may be off w/our high numbers at times but it seems you always go to the opposite lowest end of the spectrum. Again don't mean to flame but just want to know what angle you're coming from on some of these issues.

The storm surge pushing into vermilion bay then into the vermilion river and also into the coulees does cause flooding problems here in lafayette...a decent 25-30 miles from vermilion bay. I know because I had to leave my house for a few hours Saturday because of the storm surge pushing the vermilion river current north, which causes our area to flood.


SWLA...how did your home fare?

[FunkMasterB]

The mayor of Abbeville said (paraphrasing): "The Gulf is usually eight miles south of here. Now it's one mile south of here." But what does he know? He's just the mayor. Djtil is "positive" so let's go with that.

[vbhoutex]

To give another idea of how far the surge can move inland, lets look at the Lake Charles area. I'm not exactly sure of the distance to the Gulf from Lake Charles, but a an approximate calculation using Mapquest gives 34 miles. I do know the elevation of the land does not rise above 20'msl until you get North of I-10 in that area and the storm surge at the landfall point south of Lake Charles was 20'+. So they had storm surge flooding in Lake Charles also.

[HurricaneQueen]

Back to the original post. Welcome home, SWLA. I'm sure the scenes in front of you are not what you wanted to see but at least you got out in time. They are showing Erath on CNN right now and the incredible flooding. They have warned the reporters to look out for water mocassins and alligators, so be careful!.

Let us know how you are doing.

Lynn

[Aslkahuna]

81, that's exactly what happened with the August 1933 hurricane and Isabel which sent a huge surge up the Bay. Djtil-suggest you read up on the big storms that have hit Bangladesh in the past (1970 would be a good start) before you make statements about how far storm surge can go inland in low marshy terrain.

Steve

[Mississippi Storm Magnet]

This is exactly why I got 8 feet of water in my house in Diamondhead, MS from Katrina. Storm surge pushed water into the Bay of Saint Louis, up the Jordan river into my home, barrelling over land. My elevation was only 10 feet, even though I am several miles from the Bay. So you can get storm surge many miles inland from a river. It's not a rain event.

There's a big fight brewing now between insurance companies and homeowners over this very issue.