In 1938 and 1944, two major hurricanes struck Long Island, and after the initial winds had calmed, the storm surges unexpectedly returned hours later, leading observers to wonder if a tsunami was responsible.
Seiches on the Continental Shelf
A seiche is an oscillatory movement of water in lakes, seas, and oceans. In the case of the continental shelf, these seiches can be triggered by hurricanes that strike coastal regions. Scientists from the Stevens Institute of Technology conducted a study to understand this phenomenon and explain why flooding occurs after hurricanes.