Hurricane Irma becomes strongest on record–185 mph winds, gusting to 225 mph

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Devastation is feared in the northeastern islands of the Caribbean, where Category 5 Hurricane Irma is bearing down.
Irma, which intensified to a category 5 storm early Tuesday, is breaking records. Its 185 mph maximum sustained wind speed is higher than any other storm on record in the Atlantic, outside the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico. The strongest storm ever recorded in the entire Atlantic Basin was Hurricane Allen (Gulf of Mexico) in 1980, with winds of 190 mph.
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