LW Recollections from Down Under...Ye old freak waves at Lake Worth Beach...

They used to happen occasionally.

 

 Sometimes, it would be a passing ship's wake that intertwined with the incoming tide.

 

 Other times, it would be from a pile-up of swells from a tropical disturbance or storm many hundreds of miles offshore,

 

 But once, in 1968, the sea receded for about 5 minutes, out towards the middle of the old wooden pier, and then came a wave about 8'-10' high.  It didn't break & then flatten out; it broke and the water level behind it came up to the seawall, and washed a few towels, chairs, and rubber rafts out.  It happened on a weekday, in the summer.  No one could really explain it.

 

 I suppose the events in Japan revived that memory.  We also have to deal with the tsunamis here in New Zealand, with the Kermadic Fault, and the Chatham Rise.  The latter caused a 180" tsunami in the 1700's.

 

 I then thought about the Canary Islands, and the steam volcano that could slide into the Atlantic.  Computer models forecast the islands to the east of the US being wiped-out, and the Eastern Seaboard having massive damage. 

 

 Which makes me wonder if the Casino Building shouldn't have the first floor pillared and louvered to allow water to pass thru?