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40 <br />El <br />7 <br />In addition to the advisories, the National Hurricane Center <br />may issue a hurricane watch or warning. A hurricane watch <br />indicates that hurricane conditions are a possibility and may <br />threaten the area within 36 hours. A hurricane warning is <br />issued when winds of at least 74 mph are expected in the <br />area within 24 hours. <br />Advisories and hurricane watches and warnings will <br />frequently refer to the category of the storm. Hurricanes <br />are classified using the Saffir-Simpson scale as follows: <br />Category 1: Winds 74 to 95 mph <br />Category 2: Winds 96 to 110 mph <br />Category 3: Winds 111 to 130 mph <br />Category 4: Winds 131 to 155 mph <br />Category 5: Winds exceeding 155 mph <br />On average, 1.6 hurricanes strike the U.S. every year and <br />cause $1.2 billion in damages. Severe (category 3, 4 or 5 <br />on the Saffir-Simpson scale) strike the U.S. on the average <br />of one every 5.75 years. Experts sometimes disagree on <br />the annual cost: however, all sources agree that Hurricane <br />Andrew is the most costly recent hurricane event to affect <br />the U.S. Most sources report that the cost of Hurricane <br />Andrew exceeded $25 billion (National Climatic Data <br />Center, 1998). <br />High winds, storm surge, powerful waves, torrential rain, <br />tornadoes, and high tide combined give hurricanes the <br />potential to create mass devastation and huge losses to <br />property. The greatest threat to life and property <br />associated with a hurricane or tropical storm is storm surge. <br />Storm surge is a large dome of water often 50 to 100 miles <br />wide that sweeps across the coastline near where a <br />hurricane made landfall. The surge of high water, topped <br />by waves, can be extremely destructive to coastal regions, <br />even if they are protected by vegetation -topped dunes. The <br />stronger the hurricane and the shallower the offshore water, <br />the higher the surge will be. In addition, if the storm surge <br />arrives at the same time as the high tide, the surge height <br />will be even greater ( National Oceanic and Atmospheric <br />Administration). <br />Indian River County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan Basic Page 7