Hurricane Ping.
So that's what happened it I-10 bridge...........
I wish they'd use real numbers when reporting this stuff.
Here is nonsubscriber article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1654539,00.html
Sebastien Junger (author of "The Perfect Storm"), does a great job describing in laymen's terms, the theoretical maximum heights of waves. I love the sea, but wouldn't want to be anywhere near a 40-meter wave!
.."Surfin' Safari".."Catch a wave and your sittin' on top of the world"..BUMP
Oh, the humanity....
A wave of such proportions would crest as high as the clock on San Francisco's Ferry Building.
These have been described by ships encountering them as 'coming out of nowhere' in an otherwise calm sea.
So they are not just associated with hurricanes.
Satellites have measured 10 of these occurring globally at any one time.
BUMP
FreeRepublic word problem metric conversion ping!
The condo where we usually go on vacation, located just outside the gates of Johnson Beach Park, which is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, is now condemned because of wave action that undermined the foundation of the building. The Southeast corner of the building was the closest to the shoreline of any other that I know of on the Key, and the wave action scoured the foundation causing the building to sag and the balconies there on the south side to start separating from the rest of the building. Looking at the east side of the building, you can see where the windows have warped and sagged, and are coming out of their openings. The wave was also tall enough to go up into the second floor of the condos, and the building was at least 10' above the level of the water, so that sucker had to be at least 25' tall!
I sure hope they rebuild, but as far as I know, they haven't even taken the old building down yet.
No wonder we flooded. Locals say it was a 500 yr flood.