Coastal Flood — Marshall Islands, Guam

2014-03-02 to 2014-03-06 · Marshall Islands, Guam

Event narrative

High Spring tides, also known as King Tides in Majuro, in addition to a large north to north-northwest swell caused flooding across eastern Majuro Atoll, eastern Arno Atoll, and parts of Mili and Kili atolls. The swells were generated by a large winter storm system located east of Japan.

The long period of the swells in combination with generally elevated sea levels from persistent trade winds caused coastal flooding. The lagoon of Majuro Atoll has very limited drainage along its south and east sections. When the tide is coming in there is hardly any drainage from the lagoon. Flooding occurred on the lagoon side of Majuro from this condition. The long period north to north-northwest. also breached the narrow reefs of eastern Majuro (Djarrat/Rita District) and eastern Arno and inundated the low lying islets with 1 to 2 feet of water.

The waves started coming in at 10 pm Sunday night on the 2nd. 'It caused 10 to 12 foot surf,' Reginald White, the officer in charge of Majuro's weather station, said Monday of the storm surge. The swells from the storm off Japan were continuing through the day Monday, the 3rd. There were no reports of injuries, but many homes sustained some damage, while roads were littered with garbage, rocks and sand tossed up by the surging tide. Local government emergency crews responded quickly to clear the roads and help with removing debris from the roads and people's yards. Alson Kelen, who lives on Ejit Island, said he was awoken at 4am Monday by 'people screaming outside my house. They were freaking out because this is the highest king tide we've ever experienced. The high tide and surge continued into late Monday afternoon, but in a diminished capacity, with only some flooding. 70 Seventy homes sustained varying degrees of damage.

On Tuesday morning, March 4th, 950 Majuro residents were sleeping in schools or churches

after their homes were damaged from the event. On Wednesday there were still approximately

200 people housed in temporary school and church shelters. Some outer islands also experienced flooding, with reports coming in from Arno and Mili as of Tuesday. 'Assessment teams are now being prepared for deployment (to these outer islands),' Nemra [Casten Nemra, the Chief Secretary] said. Government assessment

In Arno, an atoll of approximately 1,500 people located several about 30 miles east of Majuro, the high tides caused significant damage to buildings and property, including a health center, a school, and several houses. The high tides also affected food supplies and damaged fruit trees, sanitation facilities, and water catchment tanks. In eastern Arno, the high tides affected an estimated 370 people, or 88 percent of the area's population, with approximately 315 people without housing.

According to the Marshall Islands Government, as of late April, the cost of the event was more than $3 million (US).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 508937. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.