Rough surf surrounds a dock in Boynton Beach, Florida on September 10.
CNN  — 

There hasn’t been a storm like Irma to hit the US. Ever.

Consider these stats from CNN’s meteorology team:

  • Irma is the strongest Atlantic basin hurricane ever recorded outside the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
  • It spent three days as a Category 5 hurricane, the longest Category 5 hurricane since satellite storm-tracking began
  • No storm on record has maintained winds 185 mph or above for as long as Irma (total of 37 hours)
  • It prompted the largest evacuation in the history of the Bahamas – and potentially the largest in the US

Here are some other startling stats that put into perspective the fury and impact of Hurricane Irma: