> The question of whether a category 6 would be an effective communication tool requires a larger discussion, with input from social scientists, psychologists,

> The question of whether a category 6 would be an effective communication tool requires a larger discussion, with input from social scientists, psychologists, emergency managers, and city planners, Kossin said. Or, communications professionals! I would love to see more emphasis on science communications. The article touches on the fact that the Saffir-Simpson scale kinda over-relies on arbitrary windspeeds as its categorization factor. It doesn't take into account the potential damage from storm surges and flooding. (Also, as the comedian Ron White has remarked, it's not that the wind blows, but what the wind blows.[1]) Does a human have any way of conceptualizing the difference of 178-208 km/h (cat4) versus 252+ km/h (cat5) hurricane? Instead, there's an over reliance on the number -- perpetuated by how news media portray the storms. In October 2023 residents of Acapulco, Mexico were told that a Category 1 hurricane was approaching. It rapidly intensified to a cat 5 within a day and residents were totally unprepared.[2] Did residents even know "rapid intensification" was even possible? Is the potential for rapid intensification due to warming waters the thing we should be communicating rather than "category numbers"? In 2007 they updated the 'Fujita Scale' for Tornadoes (Now the 'Enhanced Fujita Scale') to better incorporate assessed damage.[3] Do we need some sort of update to the Saffir-Simpson scale that better takes into account potential/assessed damage? (Especially as it relates to the flooding/storm surge aspects). [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQD7Fzid1xI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQD7Fzid1xI [2] https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/information/data-in-action?title=What%20caused%20Hurricane%20Otis%20to%20intensify%20so%20rapidly%3F https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/information/data-in-action?title=... [3] https://www.weather.gov/oun/efscale https://www.weather.gov/oun/efscale edit: In terms of what the wind blows: an equivalent category storm that hits Jamaica versus one that hits Houston will likely produce very different levels of damage purely due to the difference in infrastructure types. Yet, both regions are warned with the same "category number."