Cyclone Storm Surge

Oral

1260 - Modeling The Effect Of Land-Building Projects On Storm Surge And Hurricane Waves In Coastal Louisiana

Presenting Author(s)

• 

  Kelin Hu, PhD

  Research Scientist
  The Water Institute of the Gulf

Additional Author #1(s)

• QC

  Qin Chen, PhD

  Professor
  Northeastern University

Additional Author #2(s)

• EM

  Ehab Meselhe

Wetland loss on the hurricane-prone Louisiana coast continues at an alarmingly high rate. The coupled flow-wave Delft3D model was applied to study the effect of land-building projects in this area. Numerical experiments showed that the proposed project in Barataria Basin would reduce both surge and waves in construction areas, while to the south of the project, surge and waves would increase. The project in Breton Basin would reduce waves nearby with little effect on surge under an Isaac-like hurricane. Model results also indicated the importance of other factors, such as delta morphology, vegetation and relative sea level rise.