How Big Was Katrina's Storm Surge--an Estimate

This is another report from Steve Elliott, my son, who with other Birmingham firemen are doing search, cleanup and recovery work in and around Gulfport on the Mississippi Coast.

We all know that in most hurricanes (not all) that the storm surge causes more damage than the wind. Officially, the final word on the storm surge will be after the NWS finishes an exhaustive study of Katrina. That will take some time.

But we have seen several indications that the surge was huge and greater than Hurricane Camille in 1969. The max storm surge in Camille was 24.7 feet at Pass Christian, Mississippi. Surprisingly the huge surge dropped off substantially to the east with only about a 7-foot surge in the west part of Mobile and 6 feet at Gulf Shores. Here are some of the things the Birmingham crew did the last two days:

* Went down a dead-end street about 1/4 to 1/2 mile north of U.S. 90 and they were shocked to find a barge about 100 yards long by 25 yards wide at the end of the street. They found two other barges in the same general area. For the barge to get that far inland, it had to come over some still-standing telephone poles without apparently hitting them. This would suggest a storm surge of 30 feet or more? Believed to be fulled loaded with grain.

* In the same area a massive amount of lumber was inland...so much so that it covered a wide area and was as much as 12 to 20 feet deep. It included bundled lumber and plywood. Atop the lumber was an overturned 18 wheeler. A bunch of rear-wheels from 18-wheelers were piled up in one area. A person was buried deep into the lumber. They used power saws to cut away the lumber but after getting close they found that the body was entangled in a bunch of steel. So they used other tools to cut through and placed the body in a body bag. Adjacent to that area, they found two more deceased in an automobile.

* Three people missing from a two-story apartment next to the automobile.

* On second night there, about half of the Birmingham crew of 27 or 28 slept in the Gulfport Fire Station where cots had been brought in. The rest on the lawn of the court house on cots.

* Saturday afternoon, three bodies found under a concrete slab.

* The Birmingham group was asked to clear every-other-street early so it would act as a fire break. There is so much piled high debris in the area that the cleared streets would provide access in case fire breaks out..

* On the east side of Gulfport, as far inland as the railroad (about 1/2 mile) In that area, they decided to work their way down a street that angled to the right. They found a man and his wife with two kids wandering down the road. They had rode out the huirricane. Steve asked them why they did not evacuate. He said his home was at an elevation of 24 feet and he thought they would be safe. However, the water reached the ceiling of the first floor. They survived on the second floor.

* Nearby a couple tried to ride out the storm in an old, old mansion. They had survived Camille ok. But at the height of Katrina, a house across the street literally "blew up" and came across the street and destroyed the home next door to their mansion. They decided to get out in neck-deep water and struggled to the nearby railroad. They clutched the side of a boxcar, pulled themselves up and rode out the rest of the storm there.

* So many cars were destroyed and piled up that they looked like matchbox cars.

* Gulfport has a large VA Hospital complex. In front, the storm surge dug out a 300-foot section of a watermain and it lies twisted up out of the ground.

* Coast Guard talked to them and said three bodies had washed ashore. They have seen at least 100 bodies floating near shore. (Don't know if that is just in the Gulfport area, or overall.)

* There is a fuel facility inland on U.S. 49 specifically for emergency and rescue vehicles. Going to that yesterday, they noted one service station had nearly 200 cars lined up to buy gas. Some were outside their autos, pushing them along as the line shortened to save gas.

* Pass Christian nearly totally destroyed.

More later...