What the. . . Neighbor's dock is darn near underwater!

Factual Questions
1

My neighbor has a dock that goes out into Choctawhatchee Bay (another map here). I’ve observed over the past couple of weeks that the dock will be anywhere from 2-3’ above the usual “plane” of water, dependent on tides.

Well, I get home from class today, and it’s damn near submerged! I don’t know where the tides are right now, but swells are easily passing over the thing, but the swells are only maybe 12" high! The troughs are roughly 6" below the top of the deck!

What is this, a super high tide? Is it a storm swell from Ike? I’ve never seen this before. I didn’t think storm swells could go up into a bay like this. This is cool/weird.

Tripler
My nautical knowledge = zero.

2

I don’t know about where you are, but here in Missouri many docks are of the floating variety. You mention tides. I don’t know what the difference is between high and low at your location, but I’d think a floating dock would be a good idea in a tidal area. Does the dock rock with the swells, or is it pretty immovable with respect to the swells?

Anyway, if it’s a floating dock it may be supported by either plastic or metal barrels or foam slabs. There are other methods, but those are most common. If the barrels develop a leak or the slabs of foam are dislodged or waterlogged the dock can sink.

Other than that i got nothing. Any photos of the dock?

3

No, it’s a “hard mounted” dock: framed decking on 12" or 16" piers sunk into the ground below the water–this thing ain’t moving.

Lemme see if I can rustle up a camera. . .

Tripler
More to follow. . .

4

I see that today’s tidal range for your area is about 2.5 feet or less. So I doubt the dock is a floater.

Some docks are bolted to piles, wood or metal, driven into the bottom of the bay. maybe the pile collapsed or the bolts broke off.

5

They were saying on the news tonight that tidal surges were huge today due to Ike. Could that be an issue?

6

Ike is right now in a good position to be producing a storm surge in your area. There is no reason your bay should escape such an effect.

7

Well, here’s the dock in question, and a pier to the right of my place. I looked underneath my deck (overhangs) and the waterline has seemed to creep up a couple of feet from what it normally is.

As you can see, that dock is solid–it ain’t floating or sinking. It’s just overcome. It’s a little gusty out today, but I’ve seen stronger winds. . .

Tripler
:: battens down some hatches ::

8

I agree with **Xema **and Fetchund got to be storm surge. I’m impressed.

9

Here’s a map showing Ike’s effect on the Gulf: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/psurgegraphics_at4.shtml

Yup, that’s what ýou’re seeing! It’s a big storm.

Here in Houston, I’m ready to “shelter in place”–AKA “hunker down.” Just north of Downtown, far from danger of storm surge, that’s the best plan. The evacuation fiasco before Hurricane Rita was a result of watching the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We don’t have the same topography.

The Greater Houston region includes low-lying areas near the Gulf–those people are mostly gone, as they should be. (The Galveston Storm of 1900 still holds the record for number of deaths caused by a natural disaster in the USA. But the Seawall, backed up by the immense grade raising project, keeps the East End of the Island relatively safe. The West End ought to be pretty empty by now.) The rest of us are lying low, having stocked up. The storm won’t last long, but power outages might.

Except that the weather guys keep reminiscing about Hurricane Carla–9/11/61. Our last Really Big One. About 26 tornadoes accompanied that particular storm…

10

If you want to track Ike using state of the art technology, go here —> http://www.stormpulse.com/

You can also look up any hurricane from this year, as well as previous years.

11

Surge predicted for Ike (Scroll down for large pic). Looks like y’all supposed to get 3 to 6 feet.

[QUOTE= weatherunderground]

Ike’s storm surge
According to the NOAA tide gauges, the storm tides along the Mississippi coast have peaked at 4 feet above normal, and are currently running 5 feet above normal on the east side of New Orleans at Shell Beach in Lake Borgne. A storm surge of 5.9 feet was observed in New Orleans’ Industrial Canal at 10:45 am CDT, and 5.75 feet in Waveland, Mississippi. Coastal Alabama is reporting a 4-6 foot storm surge, with 10-15 foot waves. Considering the center of Ike is over 250 miles south of these locations, it is not hard to imagine that Texas will get a 15-20 foot storm surge, even if Ike does not strengthen.
[/QUOTE]
From mid-morning Thursday.

[QUOTE=Tripler]
I didn’t think storm swells could go up into a bay like this.
[/QUOTE]
Out of curiosity, why not? It’s all one big bathtub. :slight_smile: