Irene has been retired from the official list of Atlantic Basin tropical storm names by the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) hurricane committee because of the fatalities and damage it caused in August, 2011 and will be replaced by Irma.Storm names are reused every six years for both the Atlantic Basin and eastern North Pacific Basin, unless retired for causing a considerable amount of casualties or damage. Irene is the 76th name to be retired from the Atlantic list since 1954.Fabian, which struck Bermuda in 2003, has also been retired.Irene became a hurricane on August 22 and intensified to a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale on August 24 while centred between Mayaguana and Grand Inagua in the Bahamas. It gradually weakened after crossing the Bahamas, making landfall in North Carolina on August 27 as a Category 1 hurricane. Irene made another landfall the next day as a tropical storm very near Atlantic City, New Jersey. The centre moved over Coney Island and Manhattan, New York, the same day.Irene caused widespread damage across a large portion of the eastern United States as it moved north-northeastward, bringing significant effects from the mid-Atlantic through New England. The most severe impact of Irene was catastrophic inland flooding in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Vermont.Irene was directly responsible for 48 deaths: five in the Dominican Republic, three in Haiti, and 40 in the United States. For the United States, six deaths are attributed to storm surge/waves or rip currents,13 to wind, including falling trees, and 21 to rainfall-induced floods. Including flood losses, damage in the United States is estimated to be $15.8 billion.Hurricanes that have a severe impact on lives or the economy are remembered generations after the devastation they caused, and some go into weather history. The National Hurricane Center near Miami, Florida, monitors tropical disturbances in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans which could become a hurricane.Whenever a hurricane has had a major impact, any country affected by the storm can request that the name of the hurricane be “retired” by agreement of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Retiring a name actually means that it cannot be reused for at least 10 years, to facilitate historic references, legal actions, insurance claim activities, etc. and avoid public confusion with another storm of the same name. If that happens, a like gender name is selected in English, Spanish or French for Atlantic Storms.There is an exception to the retirement rule, however. Before 1979, when the first permanent six-year storm name list began, some storm names were simply not used anymore. For example, in 1966, “Fern” was substituted for “Frieda,” and no reason was cited.Below is a list of Atlantic Ocean retired names, the years the hurricanes occurred, and the areas they affected. There are, however, a great number of destructive storms not included on this list because they occurred before the hurricane naming convention was established in 1950.***Atlantic Storms Retired Into Hurricane HistoryAgnes (1972): Florida, Northeast USAlicia (1983): North TexasAllen (1980): Antilles, Mexico, South TexasAllison (2001): northeast TexasAndrew (1992): Bahamas, South Florida, LouisianaAnita (1977): MexicoAudrey (1957): Louisiana, North TexasBetsy (1965): Bahamas, Southeast Florida, Southeast LouisianaBeulah (1967): Antilles, Mexico, South TexasBob (1991): North Carolina & Northeast U.S.Camille (1969): Louisiana, Mississippi and AlabamaCarla (1961): TexasCarmen (1974): Mexico, Central LouisianaCarol (1954): Northeast USCesar (1996): HondurasCelia (1970): South TexasCharley (2004): Jamaica, western Cuba, FloridaCleo (1964): Lesser Antilles, Haiti, Cuba, Southeast FloridaConnie (1955): North CarolinaDavid (1979): Lesser Antilles, Hispañola, Florida and Eastern USDennis (2005): Alabama, FloridaDiana (1990): MexicoDiane (1955): Mid-Atlantic US & Northeast USDonna (1960): Bahamas, Florida and Eastern USDora (1964): Northeast FloridaEdna (1968)Elena (1985): Mississippi, Alabama, Western FloridaEloise (1975): Antilles, Northwest Florida, AlabamaFabian (2003): BermudaFifi (1974): Yucatan Peninsula, LouisianaFlora (1963): Haiti, CubaFloyd (1999): North Carolina, eastern seaboardFran (1996): North CarolinaFrances (2004): FloridaFrederic (1979): Alabama and MississippiGeorges (1998): Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, MississippiGilbert (1988): Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, Yucatan Peninsula, MexicoGloria (1985): North Carolina, Northeast USHattie (1961): Belize, GuatemalaHazel (1954): Antilles, North and South CarolinaHilda (1964): LouisianaHortense (1996)Hugo (1989): Antilles, South CarolinaInez (1966): Lesser Antilles, Hispanola, Cuba, Florida Keys, MexicoIone (1955): North CarolinaIrene (2011)Iris (2001): Belize, GuatemalaIsabel (2003): North CarolinaIsidore (2002): Cuba, northern Yucatan Peninsula, LouisianaIvan (2004): Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, western Cuba, Alabama, western Florida panhandleJanet (1955): Lesser Antilles, Belize, MexicoJeanne (2004): Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, northern Bahamas, FloridaJoan (1988): Curacao, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua (Crossed into the Pacific and became Miriam)Juan (2003): Nova ScotiaKatrina (2005): South Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, AlabamaKeith (2000): Belize, MexicoKlaus (1990): MartiniqueLenny (1999): AntillesLili (2002): Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Cuba, LouisianaLuis (1995)Marilyn (1995): BermudaMichelle (2001): Central America, Cuba, northern BahamasMitch (1998): Central America, Nicaragua, HondurasOpal (1995): Florida PanhandleRita (2005): northeast Texas, western LouisianaRoxanne (1995): Yucatan PeninsulaStan (2005): MexicoWilma (2005): northeast Yucatan Peninsula, Florida