The present hurricane measurement scale is the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.  The Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale was formulated in 1969 by Herbert Saffir, a consulting engineer, and Dr. Bob Simpson, director of the National Hurricane Center. The World Meteorological Organization was preparing a report on structural damage to dwellings due to windstorms, and Dr. Simpson added information about storm surge heights that accompany hurricanes in each category.  The Saffir-Simpson is a 1-5 rating based on the hurricane’s present intensity.  It is used to give an estimate of the potential property damage and flooding expected along the coast from a hurricane landfall.

Presently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region IV office, Regional Hurricane Program under the direction of William Massey, director, and Brock Long, program specialist, have been developing a new hurricane warning system.  Now that FEMA will be a part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), this proposed new warning system will be color coded to be similar to the DHS alert system.  The proposed new system will most likely incorporate the Saffir-Simpson scale into an all-encompassing system that will include wind speed, storm surge, rainfall, and flooding predictions.

According to Brock Long, some of the impetus to incorporating other meteorological components into an all-encompassing warning system is to change the public’s perception on all tropical depression storms.  Some of the public perception problems are because of the 10-year hiatus since the last major landfall hurricane and the recent public attention to national security problems.

Most of that perception problem came from the 2001 Hurricane season.  Though it was the fourth busiest hurricane season on record, there were no landfall hurricanes on the continental United States.  What did happen during the 2001 hurricane season was the most costly Tropical Storm in the continental USA, Tropical storm Allison.  Tropical storm Allison’s legacy on the Gulf Coast and inland was 22 deaths and 5 billion dollars of property damage due to the 22 inches of rain that fell and the ensuing flooding.

If FEMA is going to change the hurricane warning system, they are going to have to work with the National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center.  As Frank Lepore with the National Hurricane Center’s Tropical Prediction Center commented the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is very sound scientific scale that categorizes the effects of major tropical depressions.  More specifically Saffir-Simpson scale details the effects of wind damage and storm surge that the possible hurricane can bring to a locality.  The Saffir-Simpson scale has been in used in the scientific community for approximately 34 years and is widely known throughout the United States and its territories.  The Saffir-Simpson scale is not a warning scheme but is a valuable tool for the local emergency manager to use in implementing their respective emergency plans, which may include flood warnings, storm surge warnings, and wind warnings.  Unlike the color-coded DHS homeland security system, which gives terrorism mitigation plans and security precautions, the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale does not address causes of hurricanes but categorizes them by their possible threat.

There is much work to be done on the retooling of Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale into an all-encompassing tropical depression warning system.  The movement of FEMA to DHS, the recent import of new-coastal residents, and the lack of major hurricane landfall that may have created “disaster amnesia”, are all working against a new warning scheme.  The new system will without a doubt have to embrace the solid scientific based Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale if it is going to succeed in giving information to emergency managers as well as the public.