The Caribbean has a super-hurricane problem

November 13, 2025

Jeff Masters

In the western Pacific, there is a special name for high-end Category 4 and 5 typhoons with winds exceeding 150 mph (240 km/h): super typhoons. No equivalent terminology exists in the Atlantic for “super hurricanes.” But perhaps there should be, because these strongest of the strong storms are an increasing threat to the viability of living along the Caribbean, as they are expected to become increasingly common because of climate change.

A man walks among the destruction left by Hurricane Irma at the Phillipsburg Town Beach on September 11, 2017 in Philipsburg, St. Marten. Irma delivered to the island the highest damage relative to GDP of any hurricane strike in recorded history, across the entire Atlantic: about 680% of GDP. (Photo by Jose Jimenez/Getty Images)