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The Saffir-Simpson Scale ranks
hurricanes from Category 1 to Category 5, the most powerful. Hurricane
Andrew came ashore in Florida August 1992 as a Category 4 hurricane.
Only two Category 5 storms have hit the United States since
record-keeping began: the 1935 Labor Day hurricane in the Florida Keys
and Hurricane Camille along the Mississippi coast in 1969. The five
classes of hurricanes:
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CATEGORY
1
Winds: 74 to 95 mph
Damage: Minimal; signs, unanchored mobile homes, tree branches
power lines blown down, some coastal flooding. Central pressure
will be 28.94 inches or more and will be accompanied by a 4- to
5-foot storm surge.
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CATEGORY
2
Winds: 96 to 110 mph
Damage: Moderate; larger signs, roofs, doors, windows, mobile
homes, small boats, some flooding, tree branches blown down.
Pressure 28.50 to 28.93 inches accompanied by a storm surge of 6
to 8 feet.
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CATEGORY
3
Winds: 111 to 130 mph
Damage: Extensive; minor damage to buildings, some walls fail,
mobile homes, trees blown down. Flooding washes away smaller
coastal structures. Flooding up to 8 miles inland. Pressure
27.91 to 28.49 inches accompanied by a storm surge of nine to 12
feet
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CATEGORY
4
Winds: 131 to 155 mph
Damage: Extreme; almost total destruction of doors, windows.
Some wall and roof failure. Major damage to lower floors of
oceanfront buildings. Evacuations up to 6 miles inland. Pressure
27.17 to 27.90 inches accompanied by a storm surge of 13 to 18
feet.. Hurricanes Andrew, Hugo, and Hazel were Category 4
storms.
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CATEGORY
5
Winds: More than 155 mph
Damage: Catastrophic; buildings, roofs, structures destroyed.
Flooding up to 10 miles inland, evacuation of area. Pressure
less than 27.17 inches accompanied by a storm surge higher than
18 feet.
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