Hurricane Rita devastated gulf-front communities along the western Louisiana coast in 2005. LIDAR (light detection and ranging) topographic surveys and aerial photography collected before and after the storm showed the loss of every structure within the community of Holly Beach. Average shoreline change along western Louisiana's 140-km-long impacted shore was −23.3 ± 30.1 m of erosion, although shoreline change in Holly Beach was substantially less, and erosion was not pervasive where the structures were lost. Before the storm, peak elevations of the dunes, or berms in the absence of dunes, along the impacted shore averaged 1.6 m. The storm surge, which reached 3.5 m just east of Holly Beach, completely inundated the beach systems along the impacted western Louisiana shore. The high surge potential and low land elevations make this coast extremely vulnerable to hurricanes. In fact, most of the western Louisiana shore impacted by Rita will be completely inundated by the storm surge of a worst-case Saffir-Simpson category 1 hurricane. All of this shore will be inundated by worst-case category 2–5 storms.

Abstract Each year from June through November, tropical cyclones are a common potential problem for those living in coastal communities along the southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas coasts. Developing from small tropical disturbances, tropical cyclone strength is determined by many factors: ocean temperature, upper and lower wind circulation, latitudinal position, etc. Ecological, geological, and economic effects of strong-to-devastating tropical cyclones on coastal areas are typically extreme. Since the 1860s, seven strong or greater tropical cyclones have struck the Louisiana-Texas coast. Their impact has made an indelible impression on the coastline as well as on the communities in the area

Abstract Each year from June through November, tropical cyclones are a common potential problem for those living in coastal communities along the southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas coasts. Developing from small tropical disturbances, tropical cyclone strength is determined by many factors: ocean temperature, upper and lower wind circulation, latitudinal position, etc. Ecological, geological, and economic effects of strong-to-devastating tropical cyclones on coastal areas are typically extreme. Since the 1860s, seven strong or greater tropical cyclones have struck the Louisiana-Texas coast. Their impact has made an indelible impression on the coastline as well as on the communities in the area