As part of an ongoing effort to prepare for rising sea levels, Tybee Island officials are asking the public to help document upcoming “king tides.”
Such tides, which will occur on the mornings of Nov. 4 and 5 and Dec. 3 and 4, are the naturally occurring highest tide events in an area.
While not directly related to climate change and sea level rise, king tides can help predict areas that will be more susceptible to flooding in the future, said Kathryn Propst, a recent transplant from Indiana to Tybee where she volunteers on the Tybee Island Community Resources Committee.
Tybee can expect up to about 3 feet of sea-level rise by 2100, said Jason Evans, public service assistant at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia.
The King Tide Project is a small part of a $100,000 NOAA Sea Grant-funded effort in which the institute partnered with Tybee to help the island community — the most densely developed of Georgia’s barrier islands — identify and prioritize its adaptations to sea level rise.
Mean high tide for Fort Pulaski is about 7.3 feet; the upcoming king tides are predicted to be about a foot and a half higher than that.
“Another way to think of it is that with one and a half feet of sea level rise you’d expect to see a tide that high or higher on the order of 175 days a year, rather than just four to five times a year like we do now,” Evans said.
The upcoming king tides, while higher than everyday high tides, are not as large as ones seen in May and November 2012, both of which were about 9.5-9.6 feet. Higher king tides, several of which are predicted at more than 9 feet, are also expected in the fall of 2014 and 2015.
“This has to do with natural factors, mostly related to the distance of the moon,” Evans said. “A strong easterly wind could make the tide higher than predicted, but otherwise the impacts from the November and December 2013 events will likely be pretty minor on Tybee Island.”
Some areas prone to flooding, such as U.S. 80, are well documented and are already priorities of the larger project. But more ground-truthing of maps can only help the effort, Evans said.
“If it shows water in a place where we didn’t think it was going be, that’s helpful,” Evans said.
Plus it gets people involved.
“Having people on the ground get pictures when the tide is up is very powerful,” Evans said.
Tybee’s king tide project is one of many occurring around the world.
The king tide initiative began in Australia in 2009, Propst said.
“We’re part of a community of coastal groups doing this from Australia to Canada,” she said. “There are a few on the East Coast, like Tampa and the Sarasota Bay estuary.”
Tybee’s effort is believed to be the first in Georgia.
“This makes it a little more real to people,” Propst said.
HELP OUT
Participate in Tybee’s king tide project:
• Learn when the king tides will occur on Tybee.
• Plan and take your photos.
• Upload your photos, add the important tags and data and share via the Tybee King Tide Project Flickr group.
For links and detailed instructions, go to the project’s website at https://sites.google.com/site/tybeekingtide/