This was a very interesting article about the 2009 changes to the way a hurricane is categorized using the Saffir Simpson Scale due to problems with the storm surge and hurricane categories. For instance, the article indicates Hurricane Ike came in as a category 2 but the storm surge was equivalent to a category 4 hurricane at landfall. Most interesting are the arguments for and against the proposed 2009 changes in the comment section of this article:
http://weatherblog.abc13.com/2009/06/save-the-saffirsimpson-scale.html
For more details from NOAA National Hurricane Center on the 2009 changes here is a link on the storm surge component of the saffir simpson scale and reasons for the changes:
