Locals push for Hurricane Michael to be labeled category five

Some Bay County officials are pushing to have Hurricane Michael classified as a category five storm, but the hurricane, which ripped through the Panhandle in October, is currently considered a category four by the National Hurricane Center.

"I'm a huge believer that this will eventually be categorized as a category five. I think we have to wait and we have to rely on NOAA and the great equipment, the great scientists they have working there," Lynn Haven Mayor Margo Anderson said.

"To me, it was a category five, we rode through it through city hall, but again you've gotta go with the scientific evidence," Springfield Mayor Ralph Hammond said.

A category four or a category five? That's the question. According to officials with the National Weather Service, Hurricane Michael is currently classified as a category four.

"They look at measurements, they also look at radar data. They'll look at data that they have from the planes where they can estimate wind speeds and everything. Hurricane Michael is a category four with 155 miles an hour winds at landfall," National Weather Service Meteorologist Jessica Fieux said.

That's two miles an hour below the category five scale, which starts at 157 miles an hour, but local leaders say having the classification changed to a five could mean a world of a difference for many.

"I think it's important for probably two reasons. One, for the FEMA reimbursement, which I would hope would be 100 percent at that point, possibly a presidential mandate or a presidential proclamation that would make that happen more quickly and then also just for the fact that those of us who were here in this storm.. it needs to be brought to national attention," Mayor Anderson said.

"If it goes to a five, the best thing that I can understand, FEMA will go from 75 percent to 90 percent and a possible 100 percent on repayment, which would help us tremendously in the long run," Mayor Hammond said.

Now it's a waiting game. The National Hurricane Center is assessing all the factors that go in to measuring a storm and will have an in-depth report available in the spring.