It crossed the YucatÃ n Peninsula while still a tropical depression from September 27 , then strengthened northward in the Gulf , becoming the most powerful Category 4 Atlantic hurricane before making a second landfall , October 4 , in the Florida Panhandle near Pensacola as a 125-mph ( 201-km\/h ) hurricane . It crossed the YucatÃ n Peninsula while still a tropical depression from September 27 , then strengthened northward in the Gulf , becoming the most powerful Category 4 Atlantic hurricane before making a second landfall , October 4 , in the Florida Panhandle near Pensacola as a 115-mph ( 185-km\/h ) hurricane .