Irene decided it would be the first hurricane in the 2011 Atlantic season, and it decided it would do it big, unfortunately. We personally hate hurricanes, even if they do call for our water extraction services. We just hate seeing our customers distraught with water damage problems.

Irene has its sights set on the Bahamas and the East Coast of the United States. It already flew past Puerto Rico, and caused some destruction of its own there. Irene is forecasted to strengthen into a major hurricane, which means it’s set to be a Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, by early Wednesday. It is set to hit the United States on Friday into the weekend.

The threat level has increased in portions of the central and northern Bahamas to extreme. While coastal portions of the Southeast United States remain in a high threat, it may change as the storm progresses but nothing is certain. The greatest probability of a U.S. landfall is in the Carolinas during the Friday night through Saturday time frame, possibly as a major hurricane. Irene can also hit the Northeast United States, the threat level there is currently low to medium, and is likely to change. If it were to get hit, it would arrive next Monday.