Hurricanes could produce tsunami-like waves

Storm surge during Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Image courtesy of KITV4.

High surf is something we expect with a hurricane, but can hurricane conditions produce tsunami-like waves? Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering (ORE) professor Kwok Fai Cheung has studied the effects of hurricane waves at UH for 15 years. A new study published in Nature Communications by one of his former students post-doctoral students, Volker Roeber, says it’s possible.

We saw something resembling that during Haiyan in the Philippines. “A surge would come in, but before all the water would go out, another surge would come in, so they propagate on top of each other. That would increase the water level at the coast,” said Cheung.

Read more about it and watch the video report at KITV4.