Proper disposition of many of these cases is uncertain. Undoubtedly, many mariners lost their lives while staying with their vessel until it was too late to reach safety. In contrast, today's early warning system usually results in little or no loss of life aboard vessels that wreck on a coast or in a marina. For purposes of this work, cases with ships lost on the coast or in port were excluded from the casualty lists unless explicit documentation of sufficient loss of life was found. Storm surge, occasionally reaching heights of 20 to 30 feet, has been responsible for some of the largest losses of life associated with tropical cyclone at the coastline.
Storm surge is the rise of water caused by the wind and pressure forces of a hurricane.
These forces induce currents in the water. While the hurricane is in deep water, these currents produce little storm surge because converging water and the subsequent piling up is compensated by currents at greater depths moving water away. However, as the hurricane moves onto the continental shelf and makes landfall, the compensating currents are eliminated by the slope of the shelf and the shoreline, and the converging water rises. This rising water may over-top barrier islands or be funneled into bays and estuaries. In many cases, maximum storm surge heights measured relative to mean sea level have been recorded at the head of bays or even inland away from the shoreline.