Is a storm surge like a mini tsunami? Sorry, to be ignorant, but I live 300+ miles from the coast.
no such thing as ignorance yeh visually
it is what it is like I think a lot of people visualize it as like an event when it actually is like a tsunami it keeps coming in -- its not like a wave that comes in and goes out it keeps coming in
also visually it can be perceived as a tidal wave but only in the context that is
pushed up and piled on water as the hurricane moves across the ocean.
As it gets closer to land the the ground
is shallower so it rises up and up allowing to overflow obstacles
lots of variations in terms of how it landfalls cause the wind can keep - for hours keep pushing the water inland ) what this is going to be.
As she slows down in forward motion very bad for storm surge cause the winds just keep pushing the water in
In storms like Ike and Ivan those closest to the beach are pretty much swept away - its a wall of water coming at things at high speeds cause of the speed of the winds
it kills the most people in hurricanes not the wind
cars are floating in the water at high speeds destroyed houses and trees are zooming along banging into other stuff destroying them debris builds up and keep mowing over the stuff ahead of it
so yeh it is a lot like a tsunami which in preinciple is the same thing a bunch of water suddenly thrown upward but is not really seen until it rises up as it gets closer to land and in shallower water it just rises and reise
I learned a lot from the big one the first time I saw it it was not at all what I expected I did not think the ocean just keeps and keeps and keeps and keeps coming in it wigged me out totally
tsunamis that start out far in the ocean travel at 600 mph and you cant even see it on top of the water
during the big one there were tons of ships out in the ocean that had no idea the were on top of it it looks and acts like just a regular little wave
notice how nothing it is when it is in deep water
90 second animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLFtDiGV1Ao
really bad stuff i am sorry to say