In a study, Michael Wehner, PhD, and the Berkeley Lab found that the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale fails to tell the full story of higher wind speeds. "The strongest storms are getting stronger.

The longstanding hurricane rating system, the Saffir-Simpson Scale, only takes into account sustained wind speeds and not the full devastating impact of a hurricane.

Let's break it down. Big Picture -What It Measures: As the name implies, the current version is strictly a wind scale that rates a hurricane's sustained winds (not gusts) from Category 1 through 5.

Following a hurricane at a CATEGORY 4, most of an area will be “uninhabitable” for anywhere between weeks or months. CATEGORY 5: This is the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.

Tropical storm warnings and storm surge warnings were issued in North Carolina and have extended north to the Virginia border as Hurricane Erin is expected to bring “life-threatening” surf and rip currents along much of the East Coast this week,

Hurricane Erin reached the maximum intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale last Saturday (16), becoming a category 5 storm with winds of up to 260 km/h (161 mph).

Travelers on the Outer Banks should be aware of possible disruptions next week caused by Hurricane Erin as it intensified into a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale overnight,