Why Hurricane Ian’s storm surge was so devastating

With most hurricanes, storm surge is the storm’s deadliest and most significant part. Hurricane Ian was no exception.

Ian’s surge of at least 13.8 feet along Fort Myers Beach is the highest surge ever recorded in Southwest Florida over the past 150 years.

It was double the surge produced by Hurricane Charley in 2004, a smaller storm that took nearly the same track at the same intensity.

So why was Ian’s surge so devastating?

In May, WINK News chief Meteorologist Matt Devott spoke with Cody Fritz, a storm surge specialist from the National Hurricane Center.

“Hurricane Charley back in 2004 was a very small Category 4 hurricane, but if you were to take that one storm and expand its wind field, right, make it a bigger storm, the overall storm surge would increase significantly,” said Fritz.

That’s precisely what happened with Ian, but that’s not the only factor.

Unfortunately, the combination of every possible dynamic influenced surge working against us in this worst-case scenario.

Not only was Ian’s wind field much larger than Charley’s, but it also moved significantly slower. Add to that, it hit just after a new moon elevating tides, the storm’s angle of approach, and the inward shape of our coastline.

“On the west coast of Florida specifically, the vulnerability is much higher than, say, on the east coast of Florida. And a lot of that has to do with the overall shallow depth of the water,” Fritz said.

All that sent water as far as 25 miles inland.

With landfall on Cayo Costa, the counterclockwise motion around Ian brought a big difference in the surge, with 13 feet on Sanibel but just 3 feet on Boca Grande.

Both areas saw the destructive eyewall 20 miles apart, but Sanibel’s wind came from the Gulf, forcing water up, while Boca Grande’s wind came from the land in the opposite direction.

Ian’s storm surge is why it was the deadliest hurricane in Florida in 87 years.

Don’t take a chance with your life or the lives of the people that you love. It’s not worth it. Mother nature will always win.