Washington, Dhu-AlHijjah 15, 1438, Sep 6, 2017, SPA -- Hurricane Irma, a category-5 storm described as the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record, was passing over the Caribbean island of Barbuda on Wednesday, on course for the south-east US state of Florida, as dpa reported. "The combination of a life-threatening storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline," the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory on Wednesday. "Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a powerful category 4 or 5 hurricane during the next couple of days." Irma, which reached the highest category of 5 early Tuesday, has maximum sustained wind speed was 295 kilometers per hour (kph). The storm is expected to continue moving west-north-west at 24 kph for the next couple of days and is on a trajectory that would likely take it over other Caribbean islands before threatening Florida. --SPA 11:57 LOCAL TIME 08:57 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w482280