Actually, this is a needed change, as two of the three most destructive storms in US history - Ike and Sandy - were not considered major hurricanes at landfall (Sandy wasn’t even officially a hurricane at landfall). However, risk from surge and rainfall can be very tough to predict - witness the higher-than-anticipated rainfall in NC from Matthew. And a minor wobble in Ike’s track to the north spared Galveston from getting hammered by the surge that wiped out the Bolivar Penisula.
Are you suggesting that SE Texas was insufficiently prepared for H. Ike because it was “only a Category 2”?
Re Sandy, few if any predicted the damage that would be caused on its back end by snowfall.
Up to five feet of heavy, wet snow (with NO wind) piled up to cave in roofs and bring down trees and powerlines throughout WV and the MD panhandle.
In some places, as the NG was clearing roads of trees, more continued to fall behind them.