The power of water is unforgiving. It can build strength in a matter of minutes. It reshapes rivers and the landscape. Six inches of flowing water can knock a person off their feet. Water flowing at 7 mph has the equivalent force per unit area as air blowing at EF5 tornado wind speeds. Water moving at 25 mph has the pressure equivalent of wind blowing at 790 mph, faster than the speed of sound.HollyDaniellePhotography Buffalo National River November 7, 2024
I haven’t heard it framed that way before but it sure makes the point. I saw a reference once I wish I kept. It was something like for every unit of increase in water speed its force is cubed. That is a big deal and the lay public underestimates it constantly as witnessed in flood victims swept away in cars.
From the Weather Channel (link):
▪️Six inches of flowing water can knock a person off their feet.▪️Water flowing at 7 mph has the equivalent force per unit area as air blowing at EF5 tornado wind speeds.▪️Water moving at 25 mph has the pressure equivalent of wind blowing at 790 mph, faster than the speed of sound.
From another reference.
A case in point. This geologist was even surprised that Helene floods moved the big rocks in the video.
Note the analysis here of the video above it. What got me in this analysis is how it ran over the grass and left no sign.
Brant rock is the rock islet above. Ignore the circle. It is likely 50 yards from the beach proper.
The access is across this rock causeway. In a storm it is a very interesting walk.
I mentioned here how a little wave can cause trouble. Around the same period, there was a hurricane at Brant Rock, MA. Steve used to hang there some. Anyway, I was out on the rock after midnight and the surf was a sight. It was hard to find a spot to fish with the waves. There was a long sloping piece of rock there about 5-10 degrees. The waves were running up as I was standing on it. They would hit my legs with amazing force and from experience I knew that an ordinary wave over your knees is trouble. These waves were in another class and if they got over my knees I was swimming. I backed off fast. It was a lesson in the power of water.
I was out there more than once in conditions like that I think but it seldom mattered as far as fishing went. I do remember one storm where I backed off and fished from the causeway. It was a mass of white water all round it. I had read that bass were available in those conditions and surf was an irresistible attraction so I fished it hard. I got one but it was not like the stories. I saw later that they don’t like turbid water with sand in it so that may have been the factor.
Friends I fished with were not as lucky. One guy from England I was fishing with beside me at Montauk got hit and went down. I didn’t think it was that bad at the time but his brain needed surgery. Another Brit friend was there much later in the last few years and he got hit. He was face down in a hole with waves trying to drown him. It was close but he got out.