Storm Surge/Tide — Coastal Collier County, Florida

2024-08-04 to 2024-08-05 · Coastal Collier County, Florida

Event narrative

A maximum storm tide of 3.11 ft above Mean Higher High Water (MHHW) was measured by the NOAA/NOS gauge at Naples Pier at 2:06 PM on August 4th. This resulted in street flooding and closure of numerous near-coastal areas in Collier County during the high tide cycles of August 4th and 5th. There were several reports of roads underwater and water entering homes in Naples, Pelican Bay, Everglades City, and Vanderbilt Beach during the August 4th peak high tide between 10AM to 4PM. It was likely a combination of storm surge, high tide, and heavy rainfall. Water depth was approximately 1-2 feet on many streets in the Naples and Golden Gate areas, and 4 to 6 inches that fell during high tide also contributed to the amount and extent of the flooding.

In Everglades City and Chokoloskee, generally 1 to 1.5 feet of inundation was indicated by the storm survey, with a maximum high water mark of 27 inches at the Smallwood Store in Chokoloskee.

Total damage in unincorporated sections of Collier County (excluding the cities of Marco Island, Everglades City, and Naples) was $877,947, with 6 properties suffering major damage and 31 with minor damage.

Wider weather episode

The center of Debby passed about 140 miles west of Naples as a tropical storm moving north-northwest over the eastern Gulf of Mexico around 8 AM EDT on August 4th. Tropical Storm Debby intensified into a hurricane as it passed southwest of Tampa late August 4th before making landfall in the Florida Big Bend area as a Category 1 hurricane on the morning of August 5th, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and lowest central pressure of 979 mb. The outermost edge of Debby's tropical storm force wind field skirted the southwestern Florida Gulf coast on August 3rd and 4th. bringing brief tropical storm force wind gusts to most of the area. The most persistent rain bands moved over western, southern, and central sections of Collier County on August 4th, producing near-tropical storm conditions and rainfall of 4-6 inches. A storm surge of just over 3 feet, in combination with the high rainfall amounts, led to moderate coastal flooding in vulnerable storm surge locations in coastal Collier County during the high tide cycle on August 4th. The heavy rainfall also caused widespread minor to moderate inland flooding across the Naples and Golden Gate areas.

The combination of heavy rainfall and storm surge caused a total of $877,947 in damage in unincorporated sections of Collier County (excluding the cities of Marco Island, Everglades City, and Naples), with 6 properties suffering major damage and 31 with minor damage.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1212031. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.