We’re just now getting rain from Florence here in Charlotte.  It’s supposed to keep falling until Monday or Tuesday as this storm meanders through South Carolina.  Luckily, it is now a tropical storm, so we don’t have to deal with the high winds.

I saw a news show on the local television station yesterday that was talking about hurricane myths.  One myth, according to the show, was that the hurricane category is not a good indicator of the severity of the storm.  I beg to differ.

The hurricane category is a measure of the wind speed.  From my experience, wind speed is the most immediate danger of a hurricane.  High wind speed can blow over trees, rip the roofs off of houses, and send debris flying through the air.  For me, this is the unpredictable part of the storm that can get you killed.

Of course, we’re hearing a lot about rainfall and flooding with this storm, which can be just as deadly.  I don’t want to downplay the danger of flooding, but I don’t think it is as immediate a threat as the wind.  Basically, I prefer one danger to two.

I guess my point is that there will be flooding with every hurricane, but you can have flooding with a bad rainstorm too.  The thing that makes a hurricane scary and dangerous is the wind.  Otherwise, why would they be categorized that way?

And why would the Weather Channel people by playing it up so much?