not quite so. mitch was still a category two when it moved inland near la ceiba, honduras. category five conditions were experienced on offshore islands north of honduras.. things were also bad at swan island.
you're right on with andrew. it was reclassified a 5, so there it belongs. there are probably other hurricanes that would get the same nod were there the necessary information.. but it's splitting hairs. andrew fit the classic ferocious windstorm image most people have of hurricanes... a bunch of buildings wrecked in florida. mitch hit the developing world and killed thousands with floods and mudslides. either is an appropriate example.
with lower category hurricanes picking a reference hurricane can be trickier. a weakening cat 3 hitting rural south texas (bret, 1999) set against a strengthening cat 3 hitting galveston (alicia, 1983) illustrates the difficulty in picking a classic example. opal and fran are the examples used.. they are decent, perhaps low, middle of the road cat 3s. category rarely equates to net effect... the storms that caused the largest number of casualties in the u.s. during the last ten years were allison, 2001, and floyd, 1999.. both via inland flooding. neither was particularly intense when it hit. not to de-emphasize the classic major hurricane with the tremendous coastal damage from surge and wind.. but it's the rainy weak storms that kill people in the developed world.
much digression. i'll shut up now.
HF 0519z08february