MULTIPLE STATE AGENCIES. THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CONFERENCE CONTINUES TODAY AS THE TOP WEATHER EXPERTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TALK ABOUT WAYS TO BE BETTER PREPARED BEFORE A STORM MAKES LANDFALL. FIRST WARNING METEOROLOGIST ERIC BURRIS JOINS US LIVE FROM THE CONFERENCE IN NEW ORLEANS RIGHT NOW. AND ERIC, WE ARE LESS THAN TWO MONTHS AWAY FROM THE START OF HURRICANE SEASON. YEAH, AND THERE’S DEFINITELY A HUSTLE AND BUSTLE IN THIS ROOM KNOWING THAT THAT DEADLINE IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. LET ME STEP OUT OF THE WAY. JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA, THIS IS ONE OF THE EXPO AREAS. AND LIKE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT ON WESH TWO NEWS AT NOON, THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE EMERGENCY MANAGERS FROM ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY CAN MEET DIFFERENT VENDORS AND DIFFERENT SERVICE PROVIDERS AND, YOU KNOW, SHAKE HANDS AND PERHAPS SIGN CONTRACTS. BUT I GOT TO TELL YOU, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT THIS YEAR BECAUSE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THERE’S A NEW ADMINISTRATION IN WASHINGTON, D.C., AND THAT’S, OF COURSE, TRICKLING DOWN. BUT IN ADDITION TO THERE BEING A NEW ADMINISTRATION, THERE’S ALSO ALL KINDS OF NEW DATA THAT COMES IN. AND THAT’S ALSO BEING DISCUSSED AT THE CONFERENCE. AND ONE CLASS THAT I WAS TAKING WITH DOCTOR PHIL KLOTZBACH, WHO YOU MAY KNOW, ISSUES THE COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY FORECAST WAS INTERESTING BECAUSE IT WAS DISCUSSING THE HURRICANE SCALE. YOU AND I KNOW IT’S THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. IT TALKS ABOUT PEAK WINDS AND HOW THAT RUNS FROM CATEGORY ONE THROUGH FIVE. BUT DOCTOR KLOTZBACH IS WORKING ON PERHAPS A NEW HURRICANE SCALE. TAKE A LISTEN. WHAT CORRELATES BETTER WITH THE DAMAGE? HISTORICALLY, PRESSURE DOES CORRELATE BETTER WITH THE DAMAGE THAN DOES WIND CORRELATES BETTER WITH THE FATALITIES THAN DOES WIND. AND ALSO, IS THIS EASIER TO MEASURE BOTH WITH AIRCRAFT BUT ALSO ESPECIALLY ON LAND? SO HIS IDEA AND GOT TO BE HONEST, IT MAKES SUCH SENSE, IS THAT WE CATEGORIZE BY PRESSURE INSTEAD OF WIND BECAUSE THE EXAMPLE HE LED TO WAS KATRINA, WHICH STRUCK NEW ORLEANS 20 YEARS AGO, AND CHARLEY, WHICH STRUCK FLORIDA 21 YEARS AGO. CHARLEY WAS A CATEGORY FOUR STORM, SO IT WAS STRONGER ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. KATRINA, A CATEGORY THREE STORM WHEN IT MADE LANDFALL. BUT THE DEVASTATION IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. KATRINA BEING THE WEAKER CATEGORY, HAD A LOWER PRESSURE. SO IT MAKES SENSE, HE SAID. STAY TUNED THAT OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS AND EVEN YEARS, WE’LL SEE. HE’S WORKING WITH DIFFERENT SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO TRY AND GET THAT DONE. BUT THAT’S THE KIND OF DISCUSSION THAT’S HAPPENING HERE AT THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CONFERENCE. CHANGING WEATHER AND CHANGING THE WAY WE CATEGORIZE IT. JUST PERHAPS CONTINUES TOMORROW. AND OF COURSE, WE’LL BRING YOU LIVE COVERAGE FOR NOW. THAT’S THE VERY LATEST LIVE IN NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, COVERING THE NATIONA