Hurricane Irene looks so peaceful from 225 miles high. The footage above was captured Monday by a NASA crew at the International Space Station (a second Space Station video was uploaded Tuesday).
Of course the opposite is true; Irene is anything but peaceful, having already wreaked havoc throughout portions of the Caribbean. As of Wednesday night, Irene was a Category 3 storm plowing through the Bahamas, on a course for the East Coast of the United States.
A hurricane warning is in effect, and torrential rains and powerful storm surges are in the forecast for the Bahamas.
On its current path, according to the Weather Channel, Irene will skirt Florida, Georgia and South Carolina as it spins up the Atlantic, but those states will feel some of the same effects beginning early Friday.
Irene then will drench North Carolina, the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
To be on the safe side, the U.S. Navy has made preparations to send ships of the Second Fleet in Norfolk., Va., to sea if Irene is deemed to pose a threat. Large ships fare much better at sea than they might while tied to docks or piers.
Irene is not expected to weaken to tropical storm strength until early Monday, as it loses power while traveling across the Northeast.
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