PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — Some officials in one Florida Panhandle county are pushing for Hurricane Michael to be labeled a Category 5 storm.
The News-Herald reports that some in Bay County — which was hit hard by the fierce October storm — want the Cat. 5 label both as leverage to try and win a higher reimbursement from FEMA, but also as validation and a badge of honor for a region feeling increasingly forgotten by the rest of the country.
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According to the conventional Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, the standard used by the National Hurricane Center based on sustained wind speeds, Hurricane Michael was a strong Category 4 with its measured 155 mph sustained winds upon landfall — 2 mph under Cat. 5 status.
