Most powerful Atlantic hurricanes

Hurricane Dean was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall since record-keeping began in the 1850s, based on its central atmospheric pressure, forecasters said. Dean was a Category 5 storm at landfall yesterday, with a central pressure of 906 millibars. The only storms that hit land with a lower pressure were the 1935 Labor Day hurricane that hit the Florida Keys and Hurricane Gilbert, which hit Cancun, Mexico, in 1988. Atlantic hurricanes that made landfall as Category 5, since records began in 1886:

Aug. 21, 2007: Hurricane Dean; near Majahual, Mexico; at least 13 deaths

Sept. 14, 1988: Hurricane Gilbert; Cancun, Mexico; 327 deaths

Sept. 9, 1971: Hurricane Edith; Nicaragua; 30 deaths

Aug. 17, 1969:Hurricane Camille; Mississippi; 256 deaths

Sept. 28, 1955: Hurricane Janet; Chetumal, Mexico; more than 600 deaths

Sept. 16, 1947: Unnamed; Bahamas; 51 deaths

Sept. 3, 1935: Labor Day Hurricane; Florida Keys; 408 deaths

Sept. 5, 1932: Unnamed; Bahamas; deaths not recorded

Sept. 13, 1928: San Felipe-Okeechobee Hurricane; Puerto Rico; 2,166 deaths

SOURCE: National Climatic Data Center, Associated Press