Storm Surge in Texas, September 12 to 15, 2008

Large swells and high waves radiating well west of Ike's growing core over the southeast and south central Gulf of Mexico reached the coast of Deep South Texas, beginning on the morning of September 11th. The swells grew to maximum intensity on the 12th then lingered into the morning of the 13th.

September 12th:|Very high seas, severe beach erosion, coastal flooding, and big surf prevailed. At first glance, affects of the coastal flooding on vulnerable structures appeared to be minor, with the various sea walls, and just enough dune height beachside, sparing more widespread and significant flooding. The continuous pounding of the beach by Ike eroded nearly all of the slope of the beach below the dune line, and calved a number of dunes along the southern Cameron County shoreline. It will likely take awhile to get the shoreline back into the shape it was during the beginning of the summer beach season of 2008.

Water levels beach side were impressive just after sunrise on the 12th, with local residents mentioning that in some areas conditions were worse than Rita (2005), the most recent tidal benchmark. Estimated water levels were at least 5 feet above normal as of 9 AM, as the tide eased through at least five private and public beach access points along Gulf Boulevard, dumping some water onto the road. While most structures were protected by either high dunes or the sea wall,some water did creep over the sea wall in a few spots, putting water onto at least one pool deck. At least two residential structures, unprotected by dunes or sea walls, sustained some flood damage into their ground floor units during the daylight hours.

Beachside, the Gulf waters continue to ride into the dunes and sea walls, despite ebbing tide during the afternoon. Beach Access 3 and 4 just north of the resort area had water in the road; at access 4, the water rippled from Gulf to the Laguna. It was suspected that more significant flooding had occurred at Beach Access 5 and 6. The peak value at the South Padre Island Coast Guard Station, on the Laguna Madre side, was 3.44 feet at 1 PM CDT.

Even as tide levels began to lower slowly late in the day, the rate of fall was much less than the predicted rate, and during the evening, tide departures rose to near 2.6 feet above predicted levels, holding there overnight as tides began rising toward daybreak on the 13th.

September 13th:|As Ike made landfall along the Upper Texas coast, coastal flooding shifted from beachside to bayside, as the expected southerly flow along the tail of Ike materialized, holding higher water levels in Laguna Madre and nearby sand flats west of Port Isabel. With the approach of high tide, and even for a few hours beyond, water levels continued to rise, peaking at 4.14 feet above mean lower low water (MLLW) at Port Isabel and 3.99 feet above MLLW at South Padre Island Coast Guard Station, at 742 and 748 AM CDT, respectively.

Minor coastal flooding pushed water from Laguna Madre onto the shallows and into structures not elevated, such as fishing docks and parking lots. A good bit of this water extended to Padre Boulevard, where it flowed along the drainage shoulder to at least 2 feet in depth, and in some areas, closed the rightmost lanes, particularly on the southbound side.

Beachside, the roiling seas of September 12th had flattened, but high surf up to 6 feet or more continued, and tides still were able to occasionally reach the dune line - but were nowhere near the seawall.

Significant beach erosion likely finished off a summer season which began promising, but was derailed by Dolly and further hurt by Gustav. The angry seas of the 12th calved dunes, broke off wooden railings, and pushed a variety of debris onshore.

Large swells and high waves radiating well west of Ike's growing core over the southeast and south central Gulf of Mexico reached the coast of Deep South Texas, beginning on the morning of September 11th. The swells grew to maximum intensity on the 12th then lingered into the morning of the 13th.

September 12th:|Very high seas, extensive beach erosion, minor coastal flooding/overwash, and big surf likely prevailed along the coast. While there was no structure damage since the immediate coast is uninhabited, it is likely that waters levels 3 to 5 feet above normal occurred given comparable effects along the Cameron County shoreline. As of this writing, no visual accounts of dune impact have been received.|

Overnight on the 12th and into the early morning of the 13th, tide departures began to increase, with differences exceeding 1 foot around 10 PM CDT, and the water level approaching 4 feet around daybreak on the 13th at Port Mansfield.

September 13th-15th:|As Ike made landfall along the Upper Texas coast, tidal effects shifted from beachside to bayside, as the expected southerly flow along the tail of Ike materialized, gradually pushing higher water levels up the Laguna Madre into Willacy County. Water levels rose above 4 feet above mean lower low water (MLLW) at 724 AM CDT, continued to rise slowly through the 13th and into the 14th, peaking at 5.11 feet above MLLW at 630 PM CDT, with a surge value of 2.37 feet. Conditions gradually subsided thereafter, with the tide falling below 4.5 feet at 5 AM CDT on the 15th; however, the tidal departure continued robustly above 1.5 feet well into the 15th, with one last spike of water levels above 4.5 feet from 342 PM until 506 PM CDT on the 15th.

No significant flooding was reported at Port Mansfield with the mini surge on the 14th or 15th.

Large swells and high waves radiating well west of Ike's growing core over the southeast and south central Gulf of Mexico reached the coast of Deep South Texas, beginning on the morning of September 11th. The swells grew to maximum intensity on the 12th then lingered into the morning of the 13th.

September 12th:|Very high seas, extensive beach erosion, minor coastal flooding/overwash, and big surf likely prevailed along the coast of uninhabited Padre Island. It is likely that water levels of 3 to 4 feet above normal occurred given comparable effects along the Cameron County shoreline. As of this writing, no visual accounts of dune impact have been received.| |September 13th-15th:|Response to the increasing push of the water farther south in the Laguna Madre was delayed in Kenedy County, with the tidal rise not beginning until September 13th, yet also peaking on the 14th, similar to Port Mansfield (Willacy County). The water level exceeded 5 feet above Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) at the tide gage at Rincon del San Jose at approximately 4 AM CDT on the 13th, but would continue rising into the 14th, with an absolute peak of 5.91 feet above MLLW at 8 PM CDT on the 13th, and along with a peak surge of 2.01 feet above predicted values at 830 AM CDT on the 14th.| |The high water levels in the Laguna Madre were slow to recede, and values would remain above 5.5 feet above MLLW until noon CDT on the 15th before gradually falling back below 5 feet above MLLW at around 4 PM CDT.