MIAMI, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Irene, the hurricane that affected South Florida in October 1999, could become the name of another storm gathering strength in the eastern Atlantic.
The new storm is still a tropical depression but could become Hurricane Irene if it intensifies, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Friday.
Officials at the National Hurricane Center in Miami can remember the 1999 storm of the same name hitting the U.S. East Coast twice.
"It would be unusual," said hurricane specialist Jack Beven. "But also, it's way too early to say if that will happen."
While the future Irene likely could grow into a major hurricane, the original Irene was a sloppy minimal hurricane that came up from the Caribbean affecting Florida and the Carolinas, the report said. Still, it left 13 dead in the U.S. and the Caribbean.
Long-range models of the new storm indicate it might turn north before reaching the Caribbean or the U.S. coast. It had top sustained winds of about 30 miles per hour and was expected to strengthen into a tropical storm by the weekend.
