Scientists want to add Category 6 hurricanes to reflect increasingly powerful storms

Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Speed scale was developed in the 1970s as a way to quantify the threat of a given hurricane and alert the public to possible impacts.

The current version of the scale uses only peak wind speeds to classify storms as Category 1, maximum sustained winds of 74 -95 mph Category 2, 96 -110 mph Category 3, 111 -129 mph Category 4, 130 -156 mph Category 5, 157 mph or higher.

North Carolina is behind only Texas , Florida and sometimes Louisiana in the number of hurricane strikes sustained.

Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale already captures Catastrophic Damage’ from wind.

Most deaths in tropical cyclones occur not from the wind but from water — storm surge, rainfall/inland flooding, and hazardous surf — causing about 90% of tropical cyclone deaths in the U.S. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 .