Hurricane Irene 2011: Storm May Become Category 4

Hurricane Irene may become a Category 4 storm by the time it reaches Florida on Friday.

Although the worst of the hurricane is expected to hit off the Florida coast, parts of Broward and Palm Beach Counties are still in Irene's projected path, according to the Miami Herald.

As of Tuesday morning, Irene was still a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds near 100 mph. Meteorologists believe it will intensify to Category 3 by Thursday afternoon and potentially to Category 4 by Friday.

The storm hit Puerto Rico on Monday, leaving almost a million people without power. Mauricio Rivera, Puerto Rico's director of emergency operations, told the Miami Herald that 28 percent of residents were also without running water.

By Tuesday morning, Irene had reached the northern coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It was expected to continue over the Bahamas, along the east coast of Florida and up to the Carolinas.

Florida may still be spared the worst of the hurricane, but the projections for the Carolinas are becoming steadily more serious.