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