Only 81 hurricanes have struck as Category 4 or higher since 1851, or about one every other year on average. A couple have crippled multiple points at that strength. Irma, in 2017, managed to hit five countries as a Category 4 or 5 — the most of any storm in the Atlantic.

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Hurricane Melissa was at Category 4 early Sunday and forecast to be at Category 5 over the Caribbean in the next 24 hours as it heads for a Jamaica landfall, forecasters said. The storm, expected to cause life-threatening flooding and landslides ...