New Bern is at the confluence of the the Trent and Neuse Rivers. Onshore winds and surge shoved water right up the Neuse River.
Yes. My gut reaction is diffuse, and hard to quantify, but basically, my experience with vids is that, like tsunamis, storm surge waves add to depth, where non-surge, wind driven water piling up has waves on top that do not increase depth quickly.
I think the point I’m trying to make is the relative speeds of depth increase. Wind will drive water deeper over time, surge brings it in fast.