Think about driving down a freeway at 41 mph, and sticking your hand out the window, palm flat into the “wind”. Now do it at 82-83 mph. Now imagine the same “multiplication”, again.
Energy transfer from a compressible gas is a complex equation, but you can stick a V cubed component in there and not be ridiculed.
Maria had 160 sustained, at Dominica landfall, compared to Irma’s 185 on Barbuda.
V cubed in that comparison, would equate to 1.56 times as much energy.
Thing is...wind related structural failures are all about openings, and getting the roof tied down using steel in shear, not steel or wood in tension, definitely not simple gravity load.
Armor the openings, strap the roof down to concrete, and you have a chance. But if you don’t, around 130-ish, any piercings add interior pressure to lift, or the tension fastenings holding down the foil shaped roof let go, and really, whether you keep your walls from then on is how much they suffer when the roof comes off, and random chance.
With those factors in play, there’s just not that much difference between 160 and 185.
I think we’ll se what we saw on Barbuda. Intact with maybe glass, shingles and a bit of roof deck gone, roof gone but walls standing, roof and longer or corner wall sections missing, and the odd bare foundation.
FWIW...the Barbuda aerials didn’t come close to the PMs 90-95% assessment. A very few areas, yes, but overall, eyeball squint put numbers at 25-30% major damage, less than 10% bare pads.