Hurricane Irma achieved 40 hours as a Category 5 storm Wednesday evening as it swung through the Caribbean and heads towards Florida.
The National Hurricane Center issued an update Wednesday evening at 11 p.m. Eastern to say that Irma’s maximum sustained winds remains at 185 miles per hour. No new advisory had been issued as of midnight.
Here are the #Irma key messages for Advisory 32. https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/22OBb8RA46
— NHC Atlantic Ops (@NHC_Atlantic) September 7, 2017
Irma has shown no signs of slowing down since it was declared a Category 5 storm during the 8 a.m. hour on Tuesday, making good on National Hurricane Center scientist Eric Blake’s “disturbing” observation earlier in the day that the hurricane “is getting even better organized on satellite during the last few hours.”
Such a storm is capable of “catastrophic damage,” according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale using by the NHC, which rates hurricanes on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 starting at 150 mph sustained winds.
Irma, which is one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, has already been tied to at least three deaths as it slammed into islands within the Caribbean as it heads northwest, and the damage is reportedly widespread.
The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda estimated that at least 90 percent of the properties in Barbuda had either been destroyed or suffered damage. “I believe that on a per capita basis, the extent of the destruction in Barbuda is unprecedented,” said Gaston Browne.
Meanwhile strong winds and rain blacked out most of Puerto Rico.
Other islands in the storm’s path include St. Martin and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Beyond that, Irma is forecasted to slam into Florida as early as Sunday before tracking north to Georgia and other parts of the southeast U.S.
All told, the United Nations estimates that as many as 37 million people could be impacted by Hurricane Irma.
President Trump declared a state of emergency in Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. After speaking with local leaders Trump tweeted “WE ARE W/ YOU ALL!”
Evacuations have been announced, including in Miami Beach. The mayor there, Philip Levine, described Hurricane Irma as a “nuclear hurricane” Wednesday evening and urged all residents to get out as soon possible.
NHC announced that two other storms became hurricanes during the day on Wednesday, Jose and Katia, marking the first time since 2010 that three active hurricanes have been in the Atlantic.
This trio of hurricanes follows Hurricane Harvey, which late last month devastated parts of Texas and Louisiana.
