Storm Surge/Tide in Coastal Okaloosa, Florida

As hurricane Ike moved well south of the panhandle, storm surge caused major beach erosion across the area. The astronomical tide was very high and the surge adding to this caused the total tide height to be higher than what occurred in Gustav. The beaches also had very little time to recover from the battering waves of Gustav before Ike affected the area. The beaches took a pounding from the waves and surge and the water washed across several places from Pensacola Beach to Destin. Highway 98 that runs from Fort Walton Beach to Destin had to be closed because of high water. Pensacola Beach also had water across low spots in the road that runs along the beach. Like Gustav, some of the water actually got into the lower floors of some condos. Navarre Beach also took a pounding from waves. The higher than normal tides also impacted the north parts of the bays in northwest Florida. Some flooding was reported in the north parts of Pensacola, Blackwater and Choctawhatchee Bays. Water never got into any homes but it got close. The surge height was 2.9 feet in Pensacola with a storm tide height of 4.3 feet. The surge height in Destin was 2.5 feet with a storm tide height of 4.0 feet. Total estimate damage from the surge was $1.2M.

Hurricane Ike passed well south of the area, however high astronomical tide and surge from Ike brought high storm tides to the area. The storm tide was higher with Ike than with Gustav in many locations.