Hurricane Irene formed over Puerto Rico early on Monday, with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, becoming the first hurricane of the 2011 season. The ninth named storm of the season, Irene remained on a course that could take it to Florida later in the week, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Irene was located about 25 miles west of San Juan and about 125 miles east of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic as of 5 a.m. EDT. A hurricane warning was issued for Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra and a hurricane watch was issued for the north coast of Haiti from Le Mole, St. Nicholas eastward to The Dominican Republic border and the central Bahamas, the NHC said. The center of the storm will move off the north coast of Puerto Rico early Monday and move near or over the northern coastal regions of The Dominican Republic later in the day. “We have to take this seriously,” Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuno said Sunday evening.

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Irene strengthens to hurricane over Puerto Rico, takes aim on Florida

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