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HURRICANE IRENE ATLANTIC BEACH ROUGH SURF. Close up of the pier as the waves crash underneath it hitting to bottom of it. Hurricane Irene of 2011 was an Atlantic hurricane that left extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean, the United States East Coast and as for north as Atlantic Canada. Irene tracked just north of Hispaniola as an intensifying Category 1 hurricane, skirting the coast with heavy precipitation and strong winds that killed several people. After crossing the Turks and Caicos Islands, the hurricane quickly strengthened into a Category 3 major hurricane while passing through the Bahamas, leaving behind a trail of extensive structural damage in its wake. Curving toward the north, Irene skirted past Florida with its outer bands producing tropical-storm-force winds. It made landfall over Eastern North CarolinaÕs Outer Banks on the morning of August 27 and moved along southeastern Virginia, affecting the Hampton Roads region. After briefly reemerging over water, Irene made second US landfall near Little Egg Inlet in New Jersey during the morning of August 28, becoming the first hurricane to make landfall in the state since 1903. Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm as it made its third U.S. landfall in the Coney Island area of Brooklyn, New York, at approximately 9:00 a.m on August 28. Considerable damage occurred in the Catskill Mountains and Mohawk Valley of New York State and in Vermont, which suffered from the worst flooding in centuries. Throughout its path, Irene caused widespread destruction and at least 54 deaths; monetary losses to the Caribbean could be as high as US$ 3.1 billion according to preliminary estimates. Early damage estimates in the US are about $10 billion.