To be blunt, Hurricane Irene is really getting her ass kicked by the dry air on the SE coast and there's also inreasing shear on the NE side that's playing a factor in why she's been getting progressively
worse than better. Not to mention not able to maintain a stable eye for very long, but that doesn't lessen the threat as far as flooding and wind damage goes because of how massive her wind field still is. There's already reports of tropical storm force winds and power outages in SC from extreme outer rain-bands brushing into the area.
EDIT: Notice how the eyewall collapses considerably in the last frames here
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/flt/t2/flash-wv.html