Coastal Response to the Landfall of a Hurricane on a Series of Inlets and Narrow Back-Barrier Waterways.

Hurricanes with high winds can generate strong ocean circulation, storm surges, and large surface waves that impact coastal regions. In 2018, Hurricane Florence crossed the narrow continental shelf and made landfall in Onslow Bay, North Carolina, USA, a 160 km curved embayment rimmed by a chain of barrier islands with inlets and narrow back-barrier lagoons. This storm had significant impacts to Bear Island, an undeveloped barrier island, including overwash and shoreline recession of the beach/dune system of up to 40 m. The objective of this study is to apply a flexible mesh numerical model to investigate wave generation by wind over the ocean, and the fine-scale response of flow and storm surge in shallow nearshore areas including inlets and back-barrier estuaries. The hydrodynamic conditions surrounding four different barrier island systems that received different hurricane wind and wave forcing relative to the cyclone eye are investigated. The highest total water levels around the barrier islands are driven by the combined tide, storm surge and waves, resulting in complex circulation patterns related to the network of shallow channels in the back-barrier environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]