Hurricane Ike Storm Surge Depths in Southeastern Texas Based on High Water Marks

Joseph M. Kruger and Kristopher Farmer
Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Lamar University, P.O. Box 10031 Beaumont, Texas 77710

Hurricane Ike devastated the southeastern Texas Gulf Coast area in September of 2008, predominantly by storm surge which destroyed homes on Bolivar Peninsula and floated debris, including dead vegetation, far inland where it was trapped in trees, bushes, and fences. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) measured high water marks on buildings and bridges in the hardest hit more populated areas, but left out large areas of southeastern Texas due to the lack of structures. To fill in these gaps and refine the previous storm surge maps, additional high water marks were measured in the spring of 2009. These marks were combined with those measured by FEMA to create a water elevation map, and ultimately a surge depth map.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90158©2012 GCAGS and GC-SEPM 6nd Annual Convention, Austin, Texas, 21-24 October 2012