Hurricanes and Storms

Umbrellas do not provide protection from hurricanes and storms. During the rainy season we also have many types of storms. The word “hurricane” is thought to have come from the Mayan name for the god of storms “Hurukan”.

When a storm has wind speeds of 38 mph it is called a tropical depression. It is called a tropical storm if it has wind speeds between 39-73 mph. Above 74 mph it is called a hurricane. Anything above 111 mph is known as a major hurricane.

Hurricanes are classified differently depending on what country you live in. In the United States, typically the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is used, classifying the hurricanes from Category 1 through Category 5, based on their sustained wind speeds. This scale was developed by Herbert Saffir and Bob Simpson, in 1971.

Saffir developed the scale trying to estimate the amount of property damage a specific hurricane would do, primarily looking at damage the wind would do to structures. Simpson added flood damage. What they came up with is the following table:

    Category 1: 74-95 mph
    Category 2: 96-110 mph
    Category 3: 111-129 mph
    Category 4: 130-156 mph
    Category 5: 157 mph and up