Forecasters call Category 5 storm ‘potentially catastrophic’ with maximum sustained winds of up to 185 miles an hour Hurricane Irma made its first landfall in the northeast Caribbean early Wednesday after growing into one of the most powerful storms ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean, prompting evacuations in Florida and disrupting air and sea travel. The National Hurricane Center called Irma, whose maximum sustained winds increased to 185 miles an hour, a “potentially catastrophic” Category 5 storm. Irma is the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin outside the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, the agency said, and ranks among the five strongest Atlantic hurricanes. The storm’s center made landfall over the island of Barbuda early Wednesday, the center said. Heavy rain…