Hurricane Ian Response

The first storm response of the NOPP Hurricane Coastal Impacts (NHCI) project was to Hurricane Ian, which proved to be challenging but essential to document such a large and destructive storm. With the rapid intensification and large swath of potential impacts of the storm, the land-based deployment of sensor transects was limited, but overall the deployment was successful.

Task 3B met our project objectives to rapidly deploy water level and wave sensors in cross-shore transects, spanning offshore to inland, to collect data for model validation, following a short but effective timeline:

Fri – Sep 23, 2022

• National Hurricane Center (NHC) began issuing advisories for (what would become) Hurricane Ian
• Task 3B began planning for land-based sensor deployments at piers along the Florida Gulf coast
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Sat – Sep 26, 2022

• Continued monitoring storm and initiated communication with other agencies and NHCI teams
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Sun – Sep 25, 2022

• Based on current forecast track and timing, Task 3B decided to deploy at:

          1) Pier 60 in Clearwater Beach, Florida

          2) M.B. Miller County Pier in Panama City Beach, Florida

• A 2-person team from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) drove equipment from North Carolina to Clearwater, Florida

Mon - Sep 26, 2022

• USGS team deployed cross-shore sensor transect at Clearwater Beach, Florida, including:

          (1) Sofar Spotter Buoy+Smart Mooring (pre-deployed by USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in 20m depth offshore of Madeira Beach,           about 15mile south)

          (1) water level radar / Rapid Deployment Gage

          (6) pressure sensors (8 Hz) / Wave Height Sensors

          (1)  weather station / Meteorological Sensor

• USGS team drove equipment to Panama City Beach, Florida
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Tue – Sep 27, 2022

• USGS team deployed cross-shore sensor transect at Panama City Beach, Florida, including:

          (1) Sofar Spotter Buoy+Smart Mooring (pre-deployed by Sofar in 30m depth offshore of pier)

          (1) water level radar / Rapid Deployment Gage

          (2) pressure sensors (8 Hz) / Wave Height Sensors

• USGS team drove to safety in Georgia, then on to home in North Carolina

Wed – Sep 28, 2022

• Hurricane Ian made landfall as a strong Category 4 just north of Ft Myers, Florida
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Hurricane Ian continued east and north, impacting numerous states in its path
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Wed – Oct 5, 2022

• All land-based equipment retrieved from Clearwater Beach, Florida
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The USGS Coastal Storm Team led a coincident and massive effort to deploy sensors ahead of Hurricane Ian, and all data can be accessed on the USGS Flood Event Viewer.

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