Largest storm surge in DR

[Mirador]

Originally Posted by SamanaJon

... am certain that there has been other coastal phenomenon action (Waves/Storm Surge) over the past 1000 years on Hispanola that dawrf this of 1946....

The city of Azua (Compostela de Azua) in the DR South West was completely destroyed twice by earthquake induced tsunamis, once shortly after it's founding (circa 1565), and then around 1720. For this reason, the town was moved to it's present location, away from the coast and behind the mountain known by locals as La Vigia.

[laurapasinifan]

samanajon.. the link doesnt work.

I find the question relavant. storm surge is a measure we hear about when storms come. just like the amount of rainfall and the force of the winds are all measured. once the event is done with those measurements are recorded someplace. so if you could find that hurricane XYZ hit in 1963 and had winds of xxx, and rainfall of yyy and a storm surge at some aprticular tide time ,of Z amount of feet!

if someone where to be buying land along the coast that is info they might deem relavant.... they might just want to make sure they buy land at least as high as anyone can remember the water coming ashore!!!

bob

[Chris]

If you're interested, you really should read this. SLOSH Model

This does not take into account inland flooding however and this can be as catastropic as storm surge. Yes, if you're buying land in a hurricane region, it is good to know this stuff.

[Hipocrito Mejia]

Well, the worse hurricane in DR that I can think of is David in 1979. Reported wind speeds were as high as 200MPH with the storm surge in Santo Domingo at around 14ft, and 36ft waves.

[Mirador]

Originally Posted by Hipocrito Mejia

Well, the worse hurricane in DR that I can think of is David in 1979. Reported wind speeds were as high as 200MPH with the storm surge in Santo Domingo at around 14ft, and 36ft waves.

Actually, the most devastating hurricane to hit the DR, was San Zenón, on September 30th, 1930, which almost completely levelled the capital city of Santo Domingo. The reconstructions efforts by the fledgling government of President Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina stirred the support from a grateful populace, and through act of Congress, the capital city's name was changed to Ciudad Trujillo, name that lasted until the assassination of El Jefe in 1961, upon which an act of Congress gave the city it's original name of Santo Domingo.

[Hipocrito Mejia]

Mirador, I'm not that old!

I've heard anecdotal stories about San Zenon and all the damage that it caused, but from what I've seen, the measured winds from David were higher. In terms of comparison, it would be hard, as I would imagine that the SD of 1930 was much different than the SD of 1979 in regards to infrastructure, building types, construction quality, and density(open/occupied space).

[Mirador]

Originally Posted by Hipocrito Mejia

Mirador, I'm not that old!

But I am, and so is my father...

Both my father and I experienced together Hurricane David, and my father experienced San Zenon as a young adult, which nearly killed him when two walls toppled over him (he had returned home to retrieve a dog after the family was safe in a shelter). The great loss of human life resulted when people returned to their homes believing the storm was over, when actually the eye of the storm was passing overhead.

[something_of_the_night]

Originally Posted by Mirador

Actually, the most devastating hurricane to hit the DR, was San Zenón, on September 30th, 1930, which almost completely levelled the capital city of Santo Domingo.

Mirador, isn't it called El ciclón de San Zenón because it happened around that saint's day? Storms were not named back them, I don't think.

Also, and you may ask your dad, but I believe they didn't have advance warning then, which may have contributed to more deaths.

Was that storm which arrazó con to' and completely covered La Matica in Boca Chica and killed all the animals in the zoo there?

[Hipocrito Mejia]

Well, I lived through David, so I certainly saw first hand and vividly recall the devastation that it caused in SD. At that time, we lived on a street that was only a few blocks in length and ran from Avenida Kennedy to Avenida San Martin. After the hurricane passed, there were entire houses laying in our street that had been blown in from different streets.

[Mirador]

Originally Posted by something_of_the_night

Mirador, isn't it called El ciclón de San Zenón because it happened around that saint's day? Storms were not named back them, I don't think.

Also, and you may ask your dad, but I believe they didn't have advance warning then, which may have contributed to more deaths.

Was that storm which arrazó con to' and completely covered La Matica in Boca Chica and killed all the animals in the zoo there?

True, storms were then named for the saint's day. The only warning system was provided by those lucky few who possessed barometers in their homes, powered by a mechanism made with a cat gut which shrank as the atmospheric pressure dropped, moving a clock hand (You've probably seen them in museums). I read somewhere that the ciclón San Zeón was clocked at 933 mbars....

Yes, there was a zoo in La Matica island, which today is not even a shadow of it's former size. If you want to see what Boca Chica looked like before development, go to Caobita beach (10 kilometers south of the town of Barreras, Azua, on the foothills of Loma del Curro). Actually, Caobita is about 10 times the size of Boca Chica, and it is usually deserted, except for a few visitors from Azua on weekends, and some local fishermen from Los Negros and Barreras, Azua.