https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/evvep4/this-space-station-footage-of-hurricane-irma-shows-just-how-massive-it-is

Less than a week after Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeast Texas, another massive storm is headed towards the US. Irma, a Category 5 hurricane, has already made landfall on the Caribbean island of Barbuda and is projected to hit Puerto Rico and Florida by Friday.

Category 5 is the most severe classification for these types of storms, with wind speeds 157 mph or higher and the potential for "catastrophic damage" that makes affected areas "uninhabitable for weeks or months." And Irma is one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, with wind speeds reaching 185 mph. But conceptualizing the scale of these disasters can be difficult, particularly if you're far from the path of destruction. That's why video footage of the storm seen from the International Space Station is so compelling. It makes it all-too-obvious how massive and powerful Irma is: