Storm surges were a major type of the natural disasters on the
Jiangsu coast; after the 14th century, the occurrences of coastal
disasters had a marked increase over the region, compared with the
periods before the 14th century (Lu, 1984; Sun, 1991). There were
167 major storm surge events in the 16e19th centuries, i.e., on
average once every 3 years; around 90% of the storms occurred
mainly in summer and autumn seasons, associated with typhoons
(Wang et al., 1997). In addition, according to Chronicle of the L. sea
salt industry (Wang, 1892), during 1722e1811, every 10 years more
than three large storm surges would cause inundation of more than
5 saltworks on the Jiangsu coast. In order to guarantee the safety of
the salt industry, disaster mitigation became a focus for the Jiangsu
coastal management