Storm surges
When hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005 the accompanying storm surge broke through the sea defences and swamped the city, causing more damage than the strong winds.
Britain's worst storm surge in recent decades occurred in 1953. It devastated much of the East Coast of England and killed 304 people.
Since the 1953 storm the Thames Barrier was built, along with 36 additional tidal barriers and 320km of flood walls.
Use of the Thames Barrier has increased from once every two years in the 1980s to an average of six times a year over the past five years. The decision to raise or lower the Thames Barrier is based on data from NERC's National Oceanographic Centre.
In low-lying countries storm surges are a major problem. Storm surges were responsible for the deaths of 300,000 people in Bangladesh in 1970 and a further 200,000 in the eighties.
Climate change could result in more hurricanes, increasing the frequency of large storm surges.
We can normally accurately predict storm surges several days before they happen.
Related links
- Flood Risks from Extreme Events (FREE) programme
External links
- National Oceanographic Centre (NOC)
- British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC)
- Centre for Polar Observation & Modelling (CPOM)
- National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS)