The AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center is expecting Irene to target the Southeast coast as a strengthening hurricane after emerging from the Bahamas on Thursday.

Irene strengthened into the season’s first hurricane as it pounded Puerto Rico earlier this morning.

The hurricane will continue its assault on the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean prior to reaching the Bahamas.

The coastal communities at risk to serve as Irene’s landfall point later this week lie from Miami, Fla., to Morehead City, N.C.

Exactly when and where Irene moves onshore with its torrential rain, destructive winds and flooding storm surge depends on how soon the storm tracks in a more northward fashion instead of its current west-northwestward heading.

If Irene is slow to turn northward, a strike on Florida’s east coast could occur, possibly as soon as late Thursday if South Florida is the landfall site.

The coastline from Georgia to North Carolina would instead endure a direct hit on Friday night or Saturday in the event that Irene curves northward before leaving the Bahamas.

“A look at [latest computer model] track forecasts suggest a higher chance of Irene tracking along or just off the coast of eastern Florida and making landfall along the Carolina coast,” stated AccuWeather.com Hurricane and Tropical Weather Expert Meteorologist Dan Kottlowski.

Such a scenario would give Irene time to strengthen into a major hurricane and become an even greater danger to lives and property at landfall.

Even if landfall occurs at a community north of Jacksonville, Fla., Irene should still graze the Florida Peninsula with heavy rain and strong winds starting late on Thursday.

The severity and westward extent of these impacts will depend on how close Irene tracks to the coastline.

It is not just coastal communities in the Southeast that will endure the wrath of Irene in the upcoming days.

Torrential rain and gusty winds will likely spread northward across the East Coast after Irene makes landfall, threatening to cause widespread and serious flooding.

(Source: Acuuweather.com)