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Storm Surge
a concern to coastal residents

One major cause of hurricane damage is storm surge. Storm surge is the rising of the sea level due to the low pressure, high winds, and high waves associated with a hurricane as it makes landfall. The storm surge can cause significant flooding and cost people their lives if they're caught unexpected.

Storm surge can be understood by looking at the video below. The strong winds blowing towards the shore help push water towards shore on the right side of the hurricane's direction of motion. This piling up contributes to most of the coastal flooding.


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Credits and Acknowledgments for WW2010.
Department of Atmospheric Sciences (DAS) at
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.