As if the typical summer heat waves and unannounced thunderstorm were not enough, this summer left in people all along the Eastern Seaboard with an even more serious and threatening weather condition to be concerned about.

Hurricane Irene, the first major storm of the 2011 hurricane season(fury gold), struck the nation's East Coast in late August after forming as a tropical wave in the Caribbean. The storm quickly developed a cyclonic pattern and moved through the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas before reaching the Southeastern United States.

Once in the U.S., Irene hit the Carolinas and gradually carved out a path of destruction that affected the majority of the East Coast. Irene raised a death count of at least 44 and left millions without power, hammering thirteen states with severe rain, high winds and massive flooding.

After receiving severe hurricane warnings from the National Weather Service(fury money), Pennsylvania braced itself for a storm like no other. Irene was expected to last around eight hours in the greater Philadelphia region, and produce around six to ten inches of rain, leaving Philadelphia with a record high of 13.61 inches for the month of August. As the storm moved north, however, Irene weakened and was downgraded to a tropical storm.