The 10 strongest hurricanes ever to hit the Atlantic Ocean

Courtesy NASA

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 don't 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 it costliest 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 hurricane to hit the US based on its pressure, which was measured at 900 millibars. (The more intense a hurricane is, the lower its pressure.)