Category One Hurricane:

• Winds 119-153 km/hr (64-82 kt or 74-95 mph).
• Storm surge generally 1m20 to 1m50 (4-5 ft) above normal.
• No real damage to building structures.
• Damage primarily to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery, and trees.
• Some damage to poorly constructed signs. Also, some coastal road flooding and minor pier damage.

Category Two Hurricane:

• Winds 154-177 km/hr (83-95 kt or 96-110 mph).
• Storm surge generally 1m80 to 2m40 (6-8 ft) above normal.
• Some roofing material, door, and window damage of buildings.
• Considerable damage to shrubbery and trees with some trees blown down.
• Considerable damage to mobile homes, poorly constructed signs, and piers.
• Coastal and low-lying escape routes flood 2-4 hours before arrival of the hurricane center.
• Small craft in unprotected anchorages break moorings.

Category Three Hurricane:

• Winds 178-209 km/hr (96-113 kt or 111-130 mph).
• Storm surge generally 2m70 à 3m60 (9-12 ft) above normal.
• Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures.
• Damage to shrubbery and trees with foliage blown off trees and large trees blown down.
• Mobile homes and poorly constructed signs are destroyed.
• Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane.
• Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by battering from floating debris.
• Terrain continuously lower than 1m50 (5 ft) above mean sea level may be flooded inland 13 km (8 miles) or more.
• Evacuation of low-lying residences with several blocks of the shoreline may be required.

Category Four Hurricane:

• Winds 210-249 km/hr (114-135 kt or 131-155 mph).
• Storm surge generally 3m80 à 5m40 (13-18 ft) above normal.
• More extensive curtainwall failures with some complete roof structure failures on small residences.
• Shrubs, trees, and all signs are blown down.
• Complete destruction of mobile homes. Extensive damage to doors and windows.
• Low-lying escape routes may be cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane.
• Major damage to lower floors of structures near the shore.
• Terrain lower than 3m (10 ft) above sea level may be flooded requiring massive evacuation of residential areas as far inland as 10 km (6 miles).

Category Five Hurricane:

• Winds greater than 249 km/hr (135 kt or 155 mph).
• Storm surge generally greater than 5m40 (18 ft) above normal.
• Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings.
• Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away.
• All shrubs, trees, and signs blown down.
• Complete destruction of mobile homes. Severe and extensive window and door damage.
• Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane.
• Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less than 4m50 (15 ft) above sea level and within 450m (500 yards) of the shoreline.
• Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 8-16 km (5-10 miles) of the shoreline may be required.

How does a hurricane get its name?

Experience shows that the use of short, distintive given names in written as well as spoken communications is quicker and less subject to error than the older more cumbersome latitude-longitute identification methods. These advantages are specially important in exchanging detailed storm information between hundres widely scattered stations, coastal bases, and ships at sea.

Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named from lists originated by the National Hurricane Center and now maintained and updated by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization. The lists featured only women's names until 1979, when men's and women's names were alternated. Six lists are used in rotation. Thus, the 2004 list will be used again in 2010. The only time that there is a change in the list is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity.