CONTEMPORARY RECONSTRUCTION OF THE HISTORICAL STORM OF FEBRUARY 1979 AND ASSESSMENT OF ITS IMPACT ON THE COASTAL ZONE INFRASTRUCTURE

9th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference - SGEM2009, www.sgem.org, SGEM2009 Conference Proceedings/ ISBN 10: 954-91818-1-2, June 14-19, 2009, Vol. 2, 243-250 pp

ABSTRACT

A review of extreme storm events along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast is of interest for
wide spectrum of readers – oceanographers, meteorologists, engineers, economists,
decision makers and stakeholders. Reasonable management of the coastal zone demands
a reliable and timely forecasting of storm events and evaluation of the related potential
damages and economical losses.

This paper focuses on the heavy storm of February 1979. The aim of the study is
reconstruction of all stages of the storm on the basis of available synoptic data and
calculation of the wave transformation, wave energy impact and beach flooding at
locations along the Bulgarian coast, where considerable damages were identified. The
damages were registered not only at ports and their protecting structures, but also at the
adjacent infrastructures and buildings.

This study will help to raise awareness of designers and decision makers and will
contribute to establishment of effective regulatory response to future extreme hydroclimatic
events.

Keywords: coastal zone, extreme storm events, reanalysis, numerical modeling