Storm surge

Storm surge is an abnormal rise in coastal water level caused mainly by storm winds driving seawater toward shore, often intensified by low atmospheric pressure.

Wind setup: A rise in water level caused when wind pushes water toward a shore or across a basin. Storm winds pile water against the coast, producing the main contribution to surge.
Coastal flooding: The inundation of land along a coast by seawater. Elevated storm water spreads inland and is the principal direct hazard of surge.
Storm surge warning: An official alert that dangerous storm-driven coastal water rise is expected or occurring. Warnings turn predicted surge levels and timing into public protective action.
Tsunami: A series of long ocean waves generated by sudden displacement of a large volume of water. A tsunami can flood coasts like surge, but its initiating disturbance is usually geological.
Inverse barometer effect: The rise in sea level that occurs when atmospheric pressure over the ocean falls. Low pressure beneath a storm adds to the water-level rise driven by wind.
Hurricane Katrina: A powerful 2005 Atlantic hurricane that caused catastrophic flooding in the New Orleans region. Its surge and levee failures produced one of the United States’ deadliest coastal disasters.
SLOSH model: A National Weather Service model that estimates storm surge from storm winds, pressure, track, and coastal geography. It supplies scenario-based surge estimates used in evacuation planning.
Seiche: A standing wave that oscillates within an enclosed or partly enclosed body of water. Seiches can raise water locally, but arise from basin oscillation rather than storm-driven coastal setup.
Astronomical tide: The regular rise and fall of sea level caused mainly by the gravitational forces of the Moon and Sun. The tide sets the starting water level on which storm surge is superimposed.
Hurricane Sandy: A large 2012 Atlantic storm that caused extensive flooding along the northeastern United States coast. Its surge inundated parts of New York and New Jersey, demonstrating risk far beyond tropical regions.

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