Determining the Strength of a Hurricane Hurricanes are very powerful forces of nature and many people underestimate the amount of damage that they can do. When a hurricane comes on land, it often wreaks havoc and causes a massive amount of storm damage and destruction to the areas that it touches.
What to Except There are a few different aspects of a hurricane that can cause damage on land. One of the first signs of a hurricane is strong winds and these strong winds are the most common means of destruction that a hurricane will be associated with. The strong winds associated with a hurricane can cause trees to be uprooted, buildings to fall over and the hurricane can carry huge pieces of debris through the wind. When a hurricane starts to carry these huge pieces of debris it can be very difficult to stay safe. The Saffir-Simpson scale was developed to measure a hurricane based on its greatest wind speed. This way, people would begin to be able to differentiate between the different types of hurricanes and the severity of the hurricanes that they are faced with.
Different Strengths of a Hurricane A category one hurricane will not have winds that exceed 95 miles per hour. The most common types of damage that are associated with a category one hurricane are damage to trees, shrubbery or damage to unanchored mobile homes that come into contact with the wind. In order to be classified as a category one hurricane, the hurricane must wind speeds of at least 74 miles per hour. Any storm that has wind speeds below 74 miles per hour is often classified as a tropical storm and the damage is usually minimal. A category two hurricane contains winds that do not exceed 110 miles per hour. The major damage caused by these hurricanes is often associated with mobile homes and the storm will often cause damage to the roofs in the area.
A category three hurricane will not have winds that exceed 130 miles per hour. The category three hurricanes will start to damage small buildings and will usually completely destroy the mobile homes in the area while also blowing down large trees. A category four hurricane has winds between the range of 131 and 155 miles per hour. These hurricanes will start to cause floods for the businesses that are close to the shore and they will also destroy the mobile homes that they touch. Finally, a category five hurricane includes any hurricane who’s wind speed exceeds 155 miles per hour. The damage during these hurricanes is often extensive and these hurricanes are also hard to recover from. The category five hurricanes will cause a lot of damage to homes and industrial buildings. Small buildings will often be blown away and the buildings close to the shore line will often be flooded and damaged because of the flood. Knowing what type of hurricane is approaching may help you prepare more thoroughly for hurricane damage. Keep yourself informed to ensure that you are ready for any hurricane that may blow onto shore in your area.