Hurricane Irma, a record Category 5 storm, churns across the Atlantic Ocean on a collision course with Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, is shown in this NASA GOES satellite image taken at 1715 EDT (2215 GMT) on September 5, 2017.
Hurricane Irma is slamming the Caribbean as a category 5 storm.
Irma's recorded maximum wind speed hit 185 mph on Wednesday, with some gusts of wind moving as fast as 215 mph.
That makes the storm one of the most powerful ever to hit the Atlantic basin.
The categories on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale are determined based on wind speed, but that's not the only element of a hurricane that causes damage. Flooding, a metric that the categories do not take into account, can often become a costly problem, as was recently seen when Hurricane Harvey flooded parts of Texas and Louisiana.
To put this year's storms into perspective, here are 10 hurricanes that topped the charts as the strongest in the history of the Atlantic Ocean, based on wind speed and pressure.
Hurricane Katrina, 2005 - 175 mph Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a Category 5 with winds up to 175 mph near Miami, before striking Louisiana as a Category 3 storm. Katrina was the third deadliest hurricane in US history, with more than 1,200 deaths. It caused $ 108 billion in damage, making itcostliest hurricane the country has ever seen.
Hurricane Andrew, 1992 - 175 mph About 25 years ago, the Category 5 Hurricane Andrew ripped through Florida with 175-mph winds, leaving millions without power and many neighborhoods completely destroyed. The response was so problematic that it led to major changes within the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to USA Today. Hurricane Camille, 1969 - 175 mph Hurricane Camille formed in the Gulf of Mexico and hit Mississippi as a Category 5 storm. Camille caused more than 256 deaths and is considered one of the most intense hurricaneto hit the US based on its pressure, which was measured at 900 millibars. (The more intense a hurricane is, the lower its pressure.)
Hurricane Carla, 1961 - 175 mph Hurricane Carla hit Texas as a category 4 storm in 1961, causing $ 2.36 billion worth of damage. Its strong winds and storm surge had devastating consequences. Hurricane Mitch, 1998 - 180 mph Hurricane Mitch hit Central America with 180 mph winds in 1998. The storm led to disastrous flooding in Honduras.
Hurricane Rita, 2005 - 180 mph Just a few weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana, Hurricane Rita formed. The storm bought heavy rainfall to the state again, and hit Texas as well, causing $ 12 billion in damages. It's often referred to as the "forgotten storm" of the horrific 2005 season.