Six days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall and wreaked havoc in the southern part of Texas, tropical storm Irma strengthened to a category 3 hurricane.

Irma began forming as a tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean two weeks. On Thursday morning, just as Hurricane Harvey was downgraded to a tropical depression, tropical storm Irma rapidly strengthened into a category 2 hurricane. Meteorologists forecast that Irma would become a major hurricane that evening. Between 4:00pm and 5:00pm Thursday night, the National Hurricane Center declared Irma a category 3 hurricane, with winds of 115mph.

Irma has strengthened into an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane. Floridians are currently making preparations to brace for the storm, is headed their way.

 Hurricane Irma is the ninth named storm of the 2017 hurricane season. The last major storm named Irma appeared in the Atlantic Ocean on October 2, 1978.