Hurricane Irma Intensifies To Catastrophic Category 5, Florida Declares State Of Emergency

Hurricane Irma strengthened to a catastrophic Category 5 storm and poses a threat to the United States. The storm’s maximum wind speeds are 175 mph, making it one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane warnings have already been issued for many islands in the Caribbean including the Leeward Islands and the Greater Antilles, as well as Puerto Rico. Currently, the storm surge is expected to be 6-feet and rain totals as high as 10 inches in the Leeward Islands. Irma is moving west at 14 mph and expected to smash into islands such as Antigua, Barbuda, and Saint Martin on Tuesday, then hit Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic before barreling to Cuba and the Bahamas. Southern Florida and the Florida Keys could be in Irma’s destructive path as early as Sunday.

“Preparations should be rushed to completion in the hurricane warning area,” the National Hurricane Center said on Tuesday morning. The NHC called Hurricane Irma an “extremely dangerous” storm. On the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, a Category 5 hurricane features winds of 157 mph or higher, “catastrophic damage will occur: A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.”

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Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Florida on Monday to give local governments enough “time, resources and flexibility to get prepared for this dangerous storm.” Scott also said, “Hurricane Irma is a major and life-threatening storm, and Florida must be prepared. In Florida, we always prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” Scott said, “and while the exact path of Irma is not absolutely known at this time, we cannot afford to not be prepared.” Puerto Rico has also declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard. The director of Puerto Rico’s power company predicted that storm damage could leave some areas of the island without electricity for four to six months.

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Irma becomes the 17th Atlantic Ocean hurricane on record to have 175 mph winds. The record for maximum wind speed in the Atlantic is held by Allen at 190 mph in 1980. And only five hurricanes in the satellite era (since 1966) have hit the Leeward Islands with max winds of 140 mph or more David (1979), Hugo (1989), Luis (1995), Lenny (1999), and soon to be Irma.

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The hurricane hunters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration flew right into Hurricane Irma.

[ABCNews/WaPo/ZH]