The Shoreline between Nature and Society, a Changing Heritage - Vulnerability of Coastal Ecosystems and Adaptation - page 184

Figure 5.4. Recent time series of measurements of global sea level
(corrected for seasonal effects)(source: Sea-Level Research
Group, University of Colorado, 2013)
5.2.2.2. The effect of marine meteorological events
This ancient story also resurfaces when storms have catastrophic
effects and, in France, after Xynthia, the State has been aiming to
reinforce its ability to respond to such events. On the coasts, these
storms punctuate the evolution of the coastline. Storms and typhoons
(tropical cyclones), and the even more spectacular and dangerous,
albeit less frequent, tsunamis, add pressure to the shorelines. One of
the most famous and best studied cyclones, for its functioning as well
as for its effects, is Hugo, which swept over the western Atlantic side
of the West Indies (Guadeloupe was deeply impacted) to the coasts of
the United States, where both Carolinas were particularly affected by
it. When it hit South Carolina, the atmospheric pressure in the eye of
the hurricane was 934 millibars and wind speeds were at their
strongest, 216 km/h. The storm surge was stunning, 4-6 m depending
on the location, and the overwash reached more than 100 m inland.
The morphological consequences were significant: rupture of the
shorelines in coral reef islands (Figure 5.5), with a transfer of water
and sediments inland and, at the end the sequence, shorelines became
shattered into multiple passages.