The single most important force needed to build a storm surge is wind. A strong wind will develop a surge in any body of water. A fan blowing across a water-filled container will cause the water to swell at the downwind side. Strong winds blowing over some of Minnesota’s biggest northern lakes will pile ice to the height of a McDonald’s sign. One of the deadliest storm surges in American history occurred on Lake Okeechobee in Florida, in 1928, when hurricane winds blowing across the long fetch of the lake raised a storm surge that killed 1,835 people.
