A year ago, hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico with winds so strong that some wondered whether the Saffir-Simpson scale for rating hurricanes needed a category 6 added to it. Now, hurricane Florence has reignited that discussion – but with a twist.
Florence was a category 1 storm when it hit the Carolina coast. That’s the weakest category of hurricane. But the main concern wasn’t the winds, it was storm surge and flooding due to historic rainfalls. And that has prompted some to call for a hurricane rating system that takes into account water as well as wind.
Bob Henson of Weather Underground and the Category 6blog spoke with Living Lab Radio.
