The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration keeps an eye on hurricanes in a way none of the rest of us would ever dare. Well, most of us, anyway. There are always a few daredevils out there.

But would you fly a little plane through 185mph winds directly into the eye of one of the strongest hurricanes we've ever seen? We sure wouldn't.

Here's some footage from one of NOAA's flights into the eye of Hurricane Irma, which is now stronger than Katrina was at its peak. They do this for science, and to help us better understand and predict future storms.

Pretty intense, right? Here's what it looks like from the outside.

And here are some videos of the impact Irma is starting to have on the ground.

Right now, Irma is projected to hit Florida later this weekend as a Category 5 storm. Hurricanes don't get any stronger than this.

NOAA
NOAA
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