When you hear hurricane, think flooding.
If storm surge is so deadly, why did it cause only 1% of the deaths?
These records are only for the last 30 years. If we looked at the last 100 years, the death toll from storm surge would be much, much higher. Hurricane forecasts have improved a lot in the last 100 years, so people on the coasts can be warned to evacuate. But storm surge could still kill a lot of people if they don't follow evacuation orders and leave home when asked.