Category 5 storm begins to hit
Maximum sustained winds from Irma are 185 mph, or 300 kmh. It's a Category 5 storm, which is the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
"Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a powerful category 4 or 5 hurricane during the next couple of days," the NHC said in the latest forecast.
The track has moved slightly to the east but the storm is so massive that it makes little difference.
"Irma is moving toward the west-northwest near 16 mph (26 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days. On the forecast track, the extremely dangerous core of Irma will move over portions of the Virgin Islands very soon, pass near or just north of Puerto Rico this afternoon or tonight, pass near or just north of the coast of the Dominican Republic Thursday, and be near the Turks and Caicos and southeastern Bahamas late Thursday," the forecast says.
