Hurricane Scale Change

Hurricane Katrina came ashore as a category three storm in 2005. But if you ask folks along the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast how to rank Katrina, they will say it's a storm like no other.

Holly Bosarge who lives in Bayou La Batre says, "It was the most devastating thing that I think in my life I will ever go through."

Katrina's storm surge did not fit the category three storm critieria of 9-12 feet. Katrina's storm surge was over 20 feet in some spots, and that would've equated to a category five storm on the old Saffir-Simpson Scale. The wind speed and categories stay the same, but the storm surge will no longer be included on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.

Katrina was not the only storm to make this change necessary says Jeff Garmon from the National Weather Service. "Hurricane Ike was a big storm with category two wind, but storm surge over 15 feet."
Garmon says regardless of this minor change, you need to pay attention to the forecast. "Know how much your storm surge is. What you can take at your location and when you need to leave. Do this before hurricane season. Understand, what is 10 feet of storm surge, and what it is going to do in my community. Hide from the wind or run from the water."