Storm Surge Atlases
Presentation, description, data
Horace H. P. Burton and Selvin DeC. Burton
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology
Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology
Storm Surge Atlas - Contents
Atlas contains maps of MEOWs of various
combinations of storm direction, forward
speed, and intensity for the islands of the
English-speaking Eastern Caribbean.
Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology
Map Features
• Each map depicts maximum surge likely during
the passage of a tropical cyclone of specific
intensity, moving at given speed, from given
direction and within a specified distance of the
particular island
• Maps are colour shaded with legend indicating the
range of values assigned to each colour
Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology
Map Features
• Added to each map is a country outline obtained
from the base topography/bathymetric data of the
TAOS model.
• Storm surge heights above mean sea-level are
shown at intervals of 0.25 m up to 2 m and at
intervals of 0.5 m for higher values
• Actual water on land is obtained by subtracting
the land elevation from the surge estimate
Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology
Input Data
• Tracks and speeds - regional climatology
• Intensities - Saffir-Simpson scale
• Lateral distance - typical horizontal extent of
hurricane force winds
• Radius of maximum winds - observations
Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology
Parameters
Category
Wind
Speed
Radius of Maximum
Winds
(knots)
(nm)
(km)
1
70
25
46
2
90
20
36
3
105
15
28
4
125
12
22
5
145
10
18
Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology
Map scale
• The surge height represents the value over some
finite distance determined by the model - 1 km
• This value is sufficiently large to be used by
decision makers in planning and disaster
management
Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology
Uses
• Determine level of risk and relative vulnerability
of specific areas on basis of intensity and track
• Determine vulnerability of existing facilities
- important for type and urgency of actions
• Determine areas susceptible to coastal and inland
flooding from storm surge
• Understanding characteristics of storm surge
Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology
Limitations
• Cannot be uses for individual parcel analysis
• In present form cannot be used to determine
directly the extent of coastal flood zone
- absence of topography
• Lack of detailed coastal outline may have an
affect on surge heights in smaller bays
Possible uses far outweigh limitations
Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology