Irene retired as hurricane name

WASHINGTON, April 13 (UPI) -- The hurricane name "Irene" has been retired because of the damage Hurricane Irene caused in the Caribbean and on the U.S. East Coast in 2011, scientists say.

The announcement was made Friday by the World Meteorological Organization, which decides on storm names, OurAmazingPlanet reported.

Storm names decided on by the WMO run on a seven-year cycle in the Atlantic Basin and eastern North Pacific Basin, unless retired for causing a considerable amount of casualties or damage.

Irene is the 76th hurricane name to be retired from the Atlantic list since 1954, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement.

Irene will be replaced on the list by "Irma."

Irene became a hurricane on Aug. 22, 2011, and intensified to a Category 3 hurricane on Aug. 24 before gradually weakening to a Category 1 when it made landfall in North Carolina Aug. 27.

Irene was the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States in three years.