In this NASA image, high above the Earth from aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Ron Garan snapped this image of Hurricane Irene as it passed over the Carribean on August 22, 2011.The National Hurricane Center noted on August 22 that Ireneis expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches across Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the Southeastern Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands. Isolated maximum amounts of rainfall may reach up to 20 inches. Hurricane Irene, steamrolling toward a late-in-the-week collision with the US mainland, was expected first to unleash its fury on the holiday destinations of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos, US forecasters said August 23, 2011. The storm, currently a category two hurricane, is forecast to make landfall in Wilmington, North Carolina over the weekend, a favored beach destination that ordinarily would be packed with tourists for one of the final weekends of summer. AFP PHOTO/NASA/HANDOUT/RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT " AFP PHOTO / - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo credit should read HO/AFP/Getty Images)