Gina has been living in the southern united states for the majority of her life. she understands the damages that can be caused by hurricanes because she has experienced three in her lifetime. she feels like she can prepare for almost any type of hurricane damage except for the severe flooding caused by a storm surge.

the word underlined in the sentence above is best defined as

a. broken pieces of an item that has been destroyed
b. the altitude line above which trees will no longer continue to grow
c. a large wall of water that is forced onto shore by storm winds
d. a circular storm that creates winds exceeding 74 mph, large waves, and heavy rains