How a Category 5 label for Hurricane Michael could impact federal funding in Bay County

Feb. 18--PANAMA CITY -- Despite rumors that a Category 5 designation would translate into more federal funding for the area after Hurricane Michael, Bay County Emergency Services Chief Mark Bowen explained that while the two are connected, the Category 5 label does not automatically bring more benefits.

The Cat 5 designation also does not impact insurance deductibles, despite a persistent rumor to the contrary, according to both Bowen and a representative from Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis' office. Bowen said he has "found no individuals or businesses that can provide evidence that their insurance benefits would be affected by the Category of 4 versus 5."

However, the same data used to determine the category of the storm is also used to calculate the dollar value of damage, "thus connecting the two issues," Bowen said.

"The availability and amount of federal assistance provided after hurricanes in Florida is based on a per capita dollar value estimate of damages. This damage estimate determines how much federal aid is made available versus what our citizens and local government have to pay once reimbursement occurs," said Bowen. "The higher the per capita dollar amount of damage estimated, the more federal aid becomes available. ... Enough damage can result in a label of 5 versus 4 while essentially the same data set would produce a higher damage cost estimate, thereby allowing us to meet the per capita formula result needed for more federal benefits."

While Hurricane Michael is currently considered "operationally" a Category 4 storm with sustained 155 mph winds at landfall, according to Dennis Feltgen, a Communications and Public Affairs Officer and Meteorologist with the NOAA Communications and External Affairs and National Hurricane Center, local residents and officials have been calling for the historic storm to be upgraded to a Category 5, hoping the increase in intensity can be used as leverage to win more federal funding.

A Tropical Cyclone Report on Hurricane Michael by the National Hurricane Center--which will contain comprehensive information including storm history, meteorological statistics including maximum sustained wind speed and wind gusts, damage estimates, storm surge levels and other information--is expected to be released in April.

"It is not unusual in a post-storm analysis for a tropical cyclone maximum wind speed to be changed up or down, as more data is available," Feltgen said previously.

The last storm to make landfall along the continental US as a Category 5 was Hurricane Andrew, which decimated parts of South Florida in 1992, though Andrew wasn't officially upgraded to a Category 5 until 2004, more than a decade later.

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