After lingering as a broad area of low pressure in the western
Caribbean Sea for four days, a tropical depression formed just
after midnight EDT on October 13 and became tropical storm Irene
in the northwest Caribbean later that morning. Irene moved north
across western Cuba on October 14 and strengthened to hurricane
intensity early on October 15 in the Straits of Florida. It then
made its first landfall in south Florida in the lower Florida
Keys around 9 am EDT October 15. After crossing Florida Bay, the
center made landfall on the peninsula near Cape Sable around 4
pm EDT October 15 as a Category One intensity hurricane. It
moved northeast across central Miami-Dade and Broward counties
before exiting into the Atlantic just after midnight on October
16 near Jupiter in northeast Palm Beach County. Heavy rains and
sustained winds of tropical storm force caused widespread
flooding and power outages in the metropolitan areas of Miami-
Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. The effects were
similar, although som