Storm Surge/Tide — Hancock, Mississippi

2020-10-28 · Hancock, Mississippi

Event narrative

The county ordered mandatory evacuations of low lying areas near the coast and opened several shelters. Storm surge flooding resulted in hundreds of roads becoming impassible around Bay St. Louis. The Waveland (WYCM6) tide gauge measured a peak water level of 8.16ft MHHW. The Claiborne (EPCM6) tide gauge measured a peak water level of 9.22 ft NAVD88.

Wider weather episode

A tropical depression formed in the northwestern Caribbean on the afternoon of October 24th. 9 hours later, it became the twenty-seventh named storm and eleventh hurricane of the exceptionally active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. After meandering virtually in the same place, it finally began moving northwest and slowly strengthening before making its first landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula on October 26th. Zeta exited the Yucantan Peninsula weaker but still a strong tropical storm. The path of the storm began shifting from northwest to northeast, and heading straight towards Louisiana. In terms of intensity, Zeta slowly but steadily strengthened from this point all the way up until landfall. It reached the highest wind speed possible of a Category 2 storm, 110 mph. Zeta produced extensive wind damage across coastal Mississippi with measured sustained winds up to 81 mph and gusts up to 104 mph. Thousands of power poles were downed and thousands of homes experienced minor damage. Storm surge ranged from a few feet to several feet. There were 2 fatalities and 75 injuries. Hurricane Zeta caused approximately $90 million worth of damage.

Zeta was the record-tying sixth hurricane to make landfall in the United States and the record fifth named storm to strike Louisiana in 2020.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 926242. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.