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Hurricane Milton Shows How a Storm’s Category Doesn’t Tell the Full Story
Milton’s reclassification to a Category 3 storm suggests it is weakening, but the scale accounts only for wind speed and not hurricane size, storm surge heights, or rainfall—which are all catastrophically large.
Tampa, a city of 3 million that hasn’t taken such a direct hit in a century, faces a storm surge of 10 to 15 feet, along with nearby St. Petersburg and Sarasota, according to the National Hurricane Center. For instance, in 1969, many residents of Mississippi failed to evacuate before Hurricane Camille into the coast with estimated winds of up to 200 miles per hour, despite detailed weather reports, and 256 people died. In response, StormGeo, an advisory firm that helps its clients decide when to shut down infrastructure like oil refineries and retail stores, developed the Hurricane Severity Index.
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