The eye of Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm packing sustained winds of up to 185 miles per hour, made landfall on the Caribbean island of Barbuda just before 2 a.m. on Wednesday, and heavy rains and hard winds slammed neighboring Antigua, where the government had warned people to prepare for an "onslaught," adding, "May God protect us all." Irma is the most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever recorded, The Associated Press says, fed by warm waters usually only found in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to remain a Category 5 or 4 hurricane over the next few days as it wreaks havoc on Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, and a string of smaller islands before hitting Florida on Sunday.
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