Is it just me or........Florence
When I was 16 years old I discovered the awesome force of hurricanes. I live in a coastal town in S. Texas. In 1919 the city was completely devastated by a Hurricane from the storm surge. The city planners came up with and idea to elevate the city and build this sea wall:
To the far left you can see the ocean shoreline about 150 feet from the wall. The wall itself is about 20 feet tall (with steps for the beach goers). When I was 16 years old we were hit by this hurricane and it was a big one. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the hurricane stalled offshore and just sat in the Gulf of Mexico just a short distance from my home town. Since the weather wasn't too bad I decided to take my younger brother for a car ride down to to look at the beach to see if there were any big waves. Well.......What we saw we will never forget!!! The hurricane (which has tremendous force) had pushed the ocean up to the top of the sea wall. All we could see was the top 2 steps of the wall, then from there out to the horizon was nothing but sea water. Look at that pic again and imagine the ocean (on the far left) lapping the top of the sea wall!! That's a lot of damn water and a tremendous amount of force that was able to push and hold that much water for as far as you could see in both directions!! It was UNREAL. There was no bad weather at the time and it was quite calm but the ocean was 25-30 higher than it normally would be. I just can't imagine how much force it takes to displace that many billions of tons of water and just hold it up against the sea wall???? In the end the hurricane started moving toward our city and we got blasted. My Dad's house was all but destroyed. The city was badly damaged but survived because of the sea wall. I'll never forget the site of all that water being held up against that tall sea wall, it was amazing!!! As far as I could see the ocean had risen 20/25 feet and it just stood there as if some magical force was holding it!! You'd have to see it to believe it!!!!!!!!! Treblig
After doing a little research I found the pic of the sea wall (taken from the other end of the sea wall) before the hurricane. This pic was taken from the 6 story hotel seen in the background of the first pic as the hurricane was approaching but before it stalled in the Gulf of Mexico. You can see how the water has already risen about 15 ft from the beach to about halfway up the steps of the sea wall. Once the hurricane stalled in the Gulf the weather calmed down a bit and that's when I took my brother for a car ride down to the sea wall. Evidently the hurricane exerts tremendous downward pressure out in the open sea waters which forces the water to rise around the exterior of the hurricane...of course the winds also help pile up a lot of water but there was very little wind when me and my brother went to the sea wall. When me and my brother saw the sea wall the water was eerily calm (like, scary calm) but the sea water was just 30 feet higher than it should be lapping the top steps of the sea wall. I've been to this beach hundreds of times growing up and it was scary (at my young age) to think of walking down those steps with the angry ocean just waiting to destroy our city. In this pic you can see our large Auditorium (shaped like a giant Quonset hut, holds thousands of people) just beyond the palm trees. At the height of the hurricane the waves were pounding on the front door of that building, the building has survived to this day but the roof was destroyed and the front wall of the building was badly damaged by the waves. So the water had to rise from the beach, 150 feet to the sea wall, 25 feet to the top of the sea wall then it continued across the street to the Quonset auditorium:
When I was 16 years old I discovered the awesome force of hurricanes. I live in a coastal town in S. Texas. In 1919 the city was completely devastated by a Hurricane from the storm surge. The city planners came up with and idea to elevate the city and build this sea wall:
To the far left you can see the ocean shoreline about 150 feet from the wall. The wall itself is about 20 feet tall (with steps for the beach goers). When I was 16 years old we were hit by this hurricane and it was a big one. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the hurricane stalled offshore and just sat in the Gulf of Mexico just a short distance from my home town. Since the weather wasn't too bad I decided to take my younger brother for a car ride down to to look at the beach to see if there were any big waves. Well.......What we saw we will never forget!!! The hurricane (which has tremendous force) had pushed the ocean up to the top of the sea wall. All we could see was the top 2 steps of the wall, then from there out to the horizon was nothing but sea water. Look at that pic again and imagine the ocean (on the far left) lapping the top of the sea wall!! That's a lot of damn water and a tremendous amount of force that was able to push and hold that much water for as far as you could see in both directions!! It was UNREAL. There was no bad weather at the time and it was quite calm but the ocean was 25-30 higher than it normally would be. I just can't imagine how much force it takes to displace that many billions of tons of water and just hold it up against the sea wall???? In the end the hurricane started moving toward our city and we got blasted. My Dad's house was all but destroyed. The city was badly damaged but survived because of the sea wall. I'll never forget the site of all that water being held up against that tall sea wall, it was amazing!!! As far as I could see the ocean had risen 20/25 feet and it just stood there as if some magical force was holding it!! You'd have to see it to believe it!!!!!!!!! Treblig
After doing a little research I found the pic of the sea wall (taken from the other end of the sea wall) before the hurricane. This pic was taken from the 6 story hotel seen in the background of the first pic as the hurricane was approaching but before it stalled in the Gulf of Mexico. You can see how the water has already risen about 15 ft from the beach to about halfway up the steps of the sea wall. Once the hurricane stalled in the Gulf the weather calmed down a bit and that's when I took my brother for a car ride down to the sea wall. Evidently the hurricane exerts tremendous downward pressure out in the open sea waters which forces the water to rise around the exterior of the hurricane...of course the winds also help pile up a lot of water but there was very little wind when me and my brother went to the sea wall. When me and my brother saw the sea wall the water was eerily calm (like, scary calm) but the sea water was just 30 feet higher than it should be lapping the top steps of the sea wall. I've been to this beach hundreds of times growing up and it was scary (at my young age) to think of walking down those steps with the angry ocean just waiting to destroy our city. In this pic you can see our large Auditorium (shaped like a giant Quonset hut, holds thousands of people) just beyond the palm trees. At the height of the hurricane the waves were pounding on the front door of that building, the building has survived to this day but the roof was destroyed and the front wall of the building was badly damaged by the waves. So the water had to rise from the beach, 150 feet to the sea wall, 25 feet to the top of the sea wall then it continued across the street to the Quonset auditorium:
