Natural Science Forum / Earth Science / Oceanography / September 2005

The "storm surge" as defined was not delayed and accompanied the eyewall.
What you are likely referring to is a nature of the winds around the
hurricane on the eastern side. The initial northeast-east winds are blowing
off-shore or parallel to the coastline at the initial onset of the surge, so
there's a second pool of water back into the area that occurs when the winds
shift into the south and southwest after the passage of the storm's center
bringing a pile of water back into the bay.

As a correction, N.O. did not have a surge 12-18 hous after the eye made
landfall. Storm surge is a very specific term that coincides with a rising
sea surface ahead of and in the immediate vicinity of the approaching eye.
This is not to be confused with man-made disasters such as a levee failure
owing to torrential rainfall and the force of winds against that barrier.

Similarly in Port Arthur, the standing water did not result from surge but
from intense run-off and standing water -- i.e. flooding. We tend to assume
that rain guages are "catching" the intense rainfall during the intense part
of a hurricane when in reality only a small portion of the rain is making it
onto the surface with the rest "suspended" for the lack of a better term by
being blown horizontally and upwards by 100mph+ winds and hurricane
updrafts. When these winds subside, there is very typically a very drastic
and mass settling of airborne water that can be shown by rapid rain gauge
accumulations when doppler radar intensities would not support it. Needless
to say, 6-10" of rain anywhere in the country, let alone an area with high
water table and poor drainage, is going to have extensive standing flood
waters develop in the 12-24 hour time frame after a hurricane.

Hope this helps.

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