There was a 9-14’ storm surge according to my family member who works at the NWS on this hurricane. I asked him this question today and he said that if the houses are gone, it’s more than like caused by the surge.
Yes, the homes swept off their foundations definitely occurred due to storm surge. I was making fun at the expense of a catastrophic hurricane denier. Sorry about the confusion.
There’s a video posted, I believe on the Accuweather twitter, which is taken from a concrete building/condo looking down on the town. Houses are submerged to just below the eaves. That’s got to be a 10 foot surge.