Palm trees during Hurricane Irene. Tall palm trees bending in the wind in heavy rainfall in the Bahamas during Hurricane Irene in August 2011. These trees are 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.