A NEW HURRICANE COASTAL IMPACT SCALE–CONTINUED WORK
Other investigators have suggested new hurricane scales. Balsillie (1999) uses the event longevity parameter (ELPstorm surge height and duration) as a measure of volumetric beach and coast erosion from hurricanes, but does not include length of shoreline impacted (size of the hurricane). A storm impact scale for barrier islands (Sallenger, 2000) compares water level versus barrier island elevation at landfall, but it also does not include a measure of length of shoreline impacted. The National Hurricane Center is working to include inland winds and rainfall potential as part of a revised hurricane scale, but those are inland effects.
The ultimate goal of the proposed HIS is a tool for hurricane/weather forecasters to give coastal residents more information for preparing for a storms potential impact. As an example, Hurricane Andrew (1992) was one of the strongest storms on record (SSS category 4) but it was also a relatively small storm. Opal (1995) was a weaker storm (category 3) but it was much larger. Although Andrew caused a tremendous amount of inland wind damage, Opal actually caused more shoreline erosion and overwash. The HIS rankings reflect this (Andrew-8, Opal-11). Inclusion of the SSS in the HIS reflects the critical nature of storm strength in any such scale. Two storm surge parameters are justified because storm surge is the best measure of a hurricanes energy flux at the shoreline, and thus the potential for erosion, overwash, and property damage at and near the shore.