Hurricane and Storm Surge in Mississippi, September 15 to 16, 2004

Hurricane Ivan moved steadily northward across the the north-central Gulf of Mexico on September 15th before turning north-northeast and making landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category 3 hurricane during the early morning of September 16th.Hurricane Ivan made landfall far enough to the east of the Mississippi Coast to minimize the damage to the coastal counties, however hurricane force winds did affect Jackson County. An anemometer on top of the Emergency Operation Center in downtown Pascagoula recorded a wind gust to 76 knots (88 mph) as the eye of the hurricane passed to the east of area. Tropical storm force winds occurred over Harrison and Hancock Counties with wind gusts approaching hurricane force in the coastal waters. A wind gust of 68 knots (78 mph) was recorded by an automated wind gage at Pointe Cadet in Biloxi Harbor, and 53 knot (61 mph) wind gust was recorded at the Emergency Operations Center in Waveland.Jackson County experienced the greatest amount of damage among coastal counties. A roof was blown off of an apartment building in Pascagoula and at least a dozen homes suffered major damage either from wind or from fallen trees. Around 100 homes had some type of wind damage, along with 30 mobile homes and 25 businesses. Trees and large tree limbs were toppled in many areas contributing to power outages in Jackson County. Wind damage was much less over Harrison, Hancock, and Pearl River counties. There were scattered reports of fallen trees and tree limbs, downing power lines and causing damage to some houses. The lowest pressure recorded along the Mississippi Coast was 975.6 mb at 2336 CST on September 15th at the Pascagoula Airport. However power to the weather instrument failed shortly after this reading and a lower reading is highly likely. At Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, the lowest pressure of 982.9 mb occurred at 0055 CST September 16th. Storm surge was generally 3 to 5 feet above normal along the coast. The highest storm surge recorded was at the mouth of the Pascagoula River near Pascagoula with a storm surge 6.72 ft NGVD. Some tidal surge flooding occurred in low lying areas near the coast. No tornadoes were reported. Storm total rainfall varied from an inch or less in Hancock County to around 6 inches in eastern Jackson County. The highest rainfall total was 6.29 inches at the Pascagoula Emergency Operations Center.No direct injuries or fatalities were noted in coastal Mississippi.Total storm damage was estimated at around 10 million dollars with approximately 80 percent of the damage due to wind ($6.7 million) and 20 percent ($ 2.3 million) due to storm surge damage.