Ridgefield residents won’t soon forget Tropical Storm Irene, which , causing so much destruction that the World Meteorological Organization’s hurricane committee today removed it permanently from consideration as a name for a future Atlantic tropical storm or hurricane.
The announcement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Irene is the 76th name to be retired from the Atlantic list since 1954.
Irene became a hurricane on Aug. 22 and intensified to a Category 3 storm on Aug. 24. It brushed the Bahamas, made landfall as a Category 1 storm in North Carolina on Aug. 27, then plowed along the eastern seaboard until crossing Long Island and battering Connecticut and New York with tropical storm-level winds and a storm surge that struck at the new moon high tide.
The storm was blamed for 49 deaths, including 41 in the U.S., and damage estimated at $15.8 billion.
