As for the length of watch/warning times, that seems a good idea. 36/48 hour times are too short for a major Category 4 or 5 storm. They are fine for 1 and 2, and possibly 3, but definately not 4 or 5. Perhaps they should add 24-36 hours if it is category 3+?

As for a redo of the scales, what's the point of pressure? That doesn't directly cause distruction, but rather causes the winds and the surge. I think there needs to be some way of rating the surge level no matter whether any change is made to the existing system (which I think functions quite well). The question is how to get people to understand the surge effect and properly distribute the information in a people-friendly manner. Perhaps we should take our nice elevation maps and start overlaying category zones: (1) 0-5' surge; (2) 5-10' surge; (3) 10-15' surge; etc. Then we distribute these to the local media outlets and say "this storm is a Category 2 surge" which would result in the media outlets distributing, via the airwaves, a map with zones (1) and (2) highlighted. This "might" help. (I've picked intervals randomly...and evacs should always be whatever category level is a couple feet higher than the current category)