Hurricanes are often detrimental to coastal ecosystems due to the destructive
power of storm surge, high winds and flooding from excessive rainfall
that can damage or bury structure such as that provided by coral reefs
and seagrass beds or alter salinity distribution in estuaries to the
detriment of organisms associated with these structures.
Retrospective Assessment and Ecoforecasting of Hurricane Effects in the Coastal Ocean
NCCOS studies environmental data from high accuracy satellite images to
better understand how hurricanes change the coastal ocean and how these
changes can impact marine habitats of Coastal Ecosystems of the southeastern
USA. Learn more.