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A Data-Driven Storm Surge Analysis for the U.S. Gulf Coast Harold Francis Needham Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected]

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A Data-Driven Storm Surge Analysis for the U.S. Gulf Coast Harold Francis Needham Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Hal@Srcc.Lsu.Edu Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2014 A Data-Driven Storm Surge Analysis for the U.S. Gulf Coast Harold Francis Needham Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Needham, Harold Francis, "A Data-Driven Storm Surge Analysis for the U.S. Gulf Coast" (2014). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3250. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3250 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. A DATA-DRIVEN STORM SURGE ANALYSIS FOR THE U.S. GULF COAST A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Hal F. Needham B.S., Pennsylvania State University, 1997 M.S., Louisiana State University, 2010 August 2014 For Della, Luke and our Unborn Baby- Keep Exploring ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank God for the opportunity to work and study at LSU over the past six years. I am thankful for my wife, Kari, and my children, Luke, Della, and an unborn baby, for their sacrifice and support through this time. This has been a long road for us, as I took my first graduate class 11 years ago in Upstate New York, and continued pursuing graduate studies in Alaska, Colorado and Louisiana. My parents, Harold and Nancy Needham, of Pike County, Pennsylvania, have been extremely supportive of me throughout this entire process. Through the years, my mom continually gave me her age-old advice, “Just do your best,” while my dad influenced me in many ways to do empirical research. When he helped me with my math homework in grade school, he would constantly remind me that I wasn’t done with a problem until I went back, checked my work, and asked myself if the final answer made sense. I would also like to thank my sister, Abigail, for her support and encouragement through the years. Finally, my “Louisiana Family,” particularly Robert and Cheryl Hebert, of Brusly, helped us in so many practical ways through the years that it is hard to imagine how we would have survived without their help. At LSU, I am especially appreciative of Dr. Barry Keim, who extended himself many times to give me opportunities. I have observed Dr. Keim continuously give time to his students in an effort to shape them into qualified scientists. In empirical research, he taught me to “let the data speak for themselves.” My committee, Barry Keim, Carol Friedland and Jill Trepanier, provided critical insights into this research, and provided much encouragement. They pushed me in my research, but were not interested to make me jump through hoops. I am grateful for all of them. Many faculty, staff and students at LSU have encouraged me and helped with this research. I would like to thank David Sathiaraj for his friendship and the IT support he provided, such as web-based mapping and tools. Amanda Billiot provided assistance with statistical research that helped me analyze storm surge return levels. Finally, many people helped build SURGEDAT, as I could not have built such an extensive database on my own. Those that contributed are Kyle Brehe, a staff member at SRCC, and many students, including Steve Beckage, Jonathan Lambert, Jesse Clifton, Christina Touzet, and Bryant Garcin. The faculty, staff and students that I worked with at LSU pushed themselves far beyond the minimum requirements, which explains how we were able to accomplish so much as a team. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for providing grants NA080AR4320886 and EA133E-07-CN-0084, which provided financial support for this research. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ xv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Objective ................................................................................................................ 7 1.3 Organization ........................................................................................................... 7 1.4 References .............................................................................................................. 9 CHAPTER 2. A REVIEW OF TROPICAL-CYCLONE GENERATED STORM SURGES: GLOBAL DATA SOURCES, OBSERVATIONS AND IMPACTS ............... 12 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Western North Pacific (East Asia) ....................................................................... 17 2.2.1 Storm Surge Literature ............................................................................. 17 2.2.2 Storm Surge Observations ....................................................................... 19 2.2.2.1 The Philippines ............................................................................ 20 2.2.2.2 China ............................................................................................ 24 2.2.2.3 Japan ............................................................................................ 25 2.2.2.4 Vietnam and Thailand .................................................................. 27 2.2.2.5 South Korea ................................................................................. 28 2.2.3 Storm Surge Impacts ................................................................................ 29 2.2.3.1 The Philippines ............................................................................ 29 2.2.3.2. China ........................................................................................... 31 2.2.3.3 Japan ............................................................................................ 33 2.2.3.4 Vietnam and Thailand .................................................................. 34 2.2.3.5 South Korea ................................................................................. 35 2.3 Northern Indian Ocean ......................................................................................... 36 2.3.1 Storm Surge Literature ............................................................................. 36 2.3.2 Storm Surge Observations ....................................................................... 38 2.3.2.1 Bay of Bengal .............................................................................. 39 2.3.2.2 Arabian Sea .................................................................................. 41 2.3.3 Storm Surge Impacts ................................................................................ 42 2.3.3.1 Bay of Bengal .............................................................................. 42 2.3.3.2 Arabian Sea .................................................................................. 44 2.4 Western North Atlantic ........................................................................................ 45 2.4.1 Storm Surge Literature ............................................................................. 45 2.4.2 Storm Surge Observations ....................................................................... 48 2.4.2.1 U.S. Gulf Coast ............................................................................ 50 2.4.2.2 U.S. Atlantic Coast ...................................................................... 51 iv 2.4.2.3 The Caribbean, Mexico and Central America ............................. 52 2.4.2.4 Canada.......................................................................................... 52 2.4.3 Storm Surge Impacts ................................................................................ 53 2.5 Eastern North Pacific ........................................................................................... 58 2.5.1 Storm Surge Literature ............................................................................. 58 2.5.1.1 Mexico ......................................................................................... 58 2.5.1.2 Hawaii .......................................................................................... 60 2.5.2 Storm Surge Observations ....................................................................... 61 2.5.2.1 Mexico ......................................................................................... 61 2.5.2.2 Hawaii .......................................................................................... 62 2.5.3 Storm Surge Impacts ...............................................................................
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