Storm Tools for Journalists - A Resource for Journalists Covering Storms

Storm Tools for Journalists

A Resource for Journalists Covering Storms

Built and maintained by Al Tompkins of The Poynter Institute

Ike Damage

Hurricane Ike-Video and Photos

http://www.khou.com/newskiosk/rss/khouweathervideo.xml

Audio Updates From Al Tompkins

Baton Rouge Advocate

Palin resigning as Alaska governor on July 26

Tracker shows dryness in parts of La., Miss.

Officials are raising efforts with wildfires

McDaniel wants meeting with Jindal

State weighing appeal options for Charity

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See what a 20 Foot Storm Surge Would Look like in Galveston

http://3dnature.com/anim/Galveston_TX-20ft-high.mp4
Photos of the Galveston seawall

The 1900 Galveston storm-America's worst natural disaster
Max Mayfield explains storm surge

HISTORIC STORM SURGE EVENTS

* Opal 1995
Hurricane Opal made landfall near Pensacola Beach, Florida as a Category 3 hurricane. The storm caused extensive storm surge damage from Pensacola Beach to Mexico Beach (a span of 120 miles) with a maximum storm tide of 24 feet, recorded near Fort Walton Beach. Damage estimates for Opal were near $3 billion.

* Hugo 1989
Devastated the West Indies and the Southeastern United States, including South Carolina cities Charleston and Myrtle Beach. Hugo was responsible for sixty deaths and $7 billion in damages, with a storm surge estimated at 19.8 feet at Romain Retreat, South Carolina.

* Camille 1969
A Category 5 hurricane, the most powerful on the Saffir/Simpson Scale with maximum winds of more than 200mph devastated the Mississippi coast. The final death count for the U.S. is listed at 256. This includes 143 on the Gulf coast and another 113 from the Virginia floods.

* Audrey 1957
There were 390 deaths as the result of a storm surge in excess of 12 feet, which inundated the flat coast of southwestern Louisiana as far as 25 miles inland in some places.

* New England 1938
A fast-moving Category 3 hurricane (the Long Island Express) that struck Long Island and New England with little warning on September 21. A storm surge of 10 to 12 ft inundated the coasts of Rhode Island, Connecticut, southeastern Massachusetts, and Long Island, NY, especially in Narragansett Bay and Buzzards Bay. Six hundred people died due to the storm. More...
* Okeechobee 1928
A Category 4 hurricane that made landfall near Palm Beach on September 16 with a central pressure of 929 mb. The center passed near Lake Okeechobee, causing the lake to overflow its banks and inundate the surrounding area to a depth of 6 to 9 ft. 1,836 people died in Florida, primarily due to the lake surge.

* Galveston 1900
More than 6,000 people died when hurricane storm tides (the surge plus the astronomical tide) of 8-15 feet inundated the entire island city of Galveston, TX.