The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is used to rate the intensities of a hurricane in Categories from 1 to 5 and assess the damage potential in each category.
All hurricanes are dangerous, but some are more so than others.
The way storm surge, wind, and other factors combine determines the hurricane's destructive power. To make comparisons easier, and to make the predicted hazards of approaching hurricanes clearer to emergency forces, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's hurricane forecasters use a disaster-potential scale which assigns storms to five categories. This can be used to give an estimate of the potential property damage and flooding expected along the coast with a hurricane. The criteria for each category are shown below. No real damage to building structures.