(Solved): Why was Gilchrist, Texas destroyed during Hurricane Ike? Estimating the storm surge that erased a c ...

Why was Gilchrist, Texas destroyed during Hurricane Ike? Estimating the storm surge that erased a city. As Hurricane Ike made landfall along the Texas Coast, the Barrier Island community of Gilchrist was essentially wiped off the map. As the satellite images on the left show, the town and much of its land no longer exist. We want to determine how large was the storm surge that caused this total destruction. Unfortunately we have no direct measurements as the closest storm surge gauge at Galveston was destroyed during the storm, with its last measurements at $\sim 12.5\mathrm{ft}$ (3.8 meters) before it failed. The closest reliable measurement is at Sabine Pass, TX. There the maximum storm surge was $14.5\mathrm{ft}$ (4.4 meters) We can use the observation at Sabine pass and our understanding of hurricane storm surge to estimate the size of the storm surge at Gilchrist. To do this we need to do the following: 1. Determine the radius of the eye (using the map above) - the maximum winds occur in the eye wall. Radius of Eye $=$ miles 2. Looking at the following graph, consider where you would label the positions of Sabine Pass and Gilchrist relative to the $Y$ $=0$ axis. Use the scaling that each grid unit on the $x$-axis is equal to the radius of the eye from Question 1 (this will help you with the following question). The graph below shows the height of the storm surge relative to the maximum value, which occurs at the right hand side of the eye. The axes are scaled according to the radius of the eye. The center of the eye is at (0) on the graph; the shaded region represents the extent of the eye 3. What is the relative height of the storm surge at the location of Sabine Pass? (you can read this from the graph) Sabine Pass Height (relative) (SP) $=$ What is the relative height of the storm surge at Gilchrist Gilchrist Height (relative) $(Gc)=$ 4. What is the ratio of storm surge heights at Gilchrist vs Sabine Pass? $(\mathrm{Gc}/\mathrm{Sp})=$ Since the height of the storm surge at Sabine Pass is 14.5 feet ( 4.4 meters), what is the height of the surge at Gilchrist?