Hurricane Ian has 256 times the storm damage potential as a Category 1 hurricane
A study by the National Weather Service finds that damage potential in hurricanes, be it from wind, flooding rains, storm surge and tornadoes, rises exponentially as the wind speeds increase.
Punta Gorda, Florida feeling the effects of Hurricane Ian
Field Meteorologist Brett Adair describes the scene in Punta Gorda, Florida as Hurricane Ian makes its impact on the area.
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- As Hurricane Ian blasted the western Florida coastline as a strong Category 4 hurricane, the damage potential becomes enormous. The now tropical storm is forecast to make a third landfall in the Southeast later this week.
A study by the National Weather Service finds that damage potential in hurricanes, be it from wind, flooding rains, storm surge and tornadoes, rises exponentially as the wind speeds increase.
As a hurricane jumps in category along the Saffir-Simpson scale, its potential for damage rises eight-fold, according to the NWS. As you jump multiple categories and climb toward the higher categories, the damage potential could rise into hundreds of times greater than a Category 1 hurricane.
With Hurricane Ian having estimated 150 mph winds along its eye wall, the storm has 256-times more potential for damage than a Category 1 storm with 75 mph wind.
And that multiplier is factored over damage caused by a 75-mph hurricane, not just calm wind.
But even small changes in hurricane strength can make for dramatic increases in damage. A 95-mph hurricane has seven times the damage potential as a 75-mph storm. A 10 mph increase from 100 to 110 mph doubles the damage potential, the NWS said.
"Do not be lulled into complacency if you hear of a small increase in wind speed from a hurricane," the NWS wrote. "These small increases directly lead to increasingly greater damage potential."