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Coastal Response to the Landfall of a Hurricane on a Series of Inlets and Narrow Back-Barrier Waterways

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Abstract

Hurricanes with high winds can generate strong ocean circulation, storm surges, and large surface waves that impact coastal regions. In 2018, Hurricane Florence crossed the narrow continental shelf and made landfall in Onslow Bay, North Carolina, USA, a 160 km curved embayment rimmed by a chain of barrier islands with inlets and narrow back-barrier lagoons. This storm had significant impacts to Bear Island, an undeveloped barrier island, including overwash and shoreline recession of the beach/dune system of up to 40 m. The objective of this study is to apply a flexible mesh numerical model to investigate wave generation by wind over the ocean, and the fine-scale response of flow and storm surge in shallow nearshore areas including inlets and back-barrier estuaries. The hydrodynamic conditions surrounding four different barrier island systems that received different hurricane wind and wave forcing relative to the cyclone eye are investigated. The highest total water levels around the barrier islands are driven by the combined tide, storm surge and waves, resulting in complex circulation patterns related to the network of shallow channels in the back-barrier environment.

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Funding

Funding for the research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) with a Discovery Grant (RGPIN/04043‐2018) and the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global science program with a Naval International Cooperative Opportunities in Science and Technology (NICOP) grant (N62909-17–1-2169) awarded to R.P. Mulligan. This work was also supported by funding from the National Science Foundation award number OCE-1901186 awarded to D. Mallinson. Acknowledgement is also made to the donors of the American Chemical Society (Petroleum Research Fund) for supporting this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Chiara M. Manchia & Ryan P. Mulligan

  2. Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

    David J. Mallinson & Stephen J. Culver

Authors
  1. Chiara M. Manchia
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  2. Ryan P. Mulligan
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  3. David J. Mallinson
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  4. Stephen J. Culver
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ryan P. Mulligan.

Additional information

Communicated by Eduardo Siegle

Key Points

• A hydrodynamic model with a flexible mesh is used to simulate the range of ocean-to-nearshore conditions to achieve high resolution in inlets.

• Storm surge in back-barrier estuaries varies depending on local inlet morphology and local hurricane forcing.

• Circulation patterns are governed by complex channel networks in the back-barrier environment.

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Manchia, C.M., Mulligan, R.P., Mallinson, D.J. et al. Coastal Response to the Landfall of a Hurricane on a Series of Inlets and Narrow Back-Barrier Waterways. Estuaries and Coasts 46, 1690–1708 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-023-01242-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-023-01242-6

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