Boat damage during Hurricane Irene. Boat being smashed into a dock by heavy waves during Hurricane Irene in the Bahamas in August 2011. This dock is in Hope Town, part of the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas. Hurricane Irene formed in the Atlantic and moved westward and northward through the Caribbean, and along the eastern coast of the USA and Canada. It reached hurricane strength on 21 August 2011, strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane while passing through the south_eastern Bahamas 24_25 August, and dissipated on 28 August 2011. Irene made landfall four times in the Bahamas, with heavy rain and wind gusts of over 200 kilometres per hour causing flooding and damage.