(San Juan, Puerto Rico) The hurricane Ernesto made landfall in the Bermuda archipelago early Saturday morning, at 6 a.m. local time.
The storm, a Category 1 storm, arrived with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (140 km/h). The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned not only of strong winds, but also of the possibility of dangerous storm surge and significant coastal flooding.
Forecasts called for 150 to 225 millimeters of rain in Bermuda.
“These rains will likely cause flash flooding that will endanger the lives of many residents, especially in low-lying areas of the island,” according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Due to the storm’s large size and slow movement, the hurricane’s intense winds are expected to continue through Saturday afternoon. The hurricane is being called tropical storm-force winds and will continue through Sunday, the Bermuda government said.
PHOTO NICOLA MUIRHEAD, REUTERS
Waves crash onto rocks as hurricane winds Ernesto approach Church Bay, Bermuda, on August 16.
Ernesto is heading northeast at 15 km/h, but is expected to ultimately pass Nova Scotia in Atlantic Canada, according to the latest projections.
The storm is expected to move closer to eastern Newfoundland and Labrador by Monday evening.
Bermuda on alert
Bermuda electricity provider BELCO said 31 per cent of its customers were out of power on Friday. It described itself as being in an “active crisis state.” “Our crews are no longer on the ground because it is no longer safe for them. These people will now rest until restoration efforts are deemed safe,” BELCO said.
Public transport was suspended on Friday evening and the airport was closed.
“The hurricane Ernesto “This is a serious threat to our community,” said National Security Minister Michael Weeks. “This is not a storm to be taken lightly.”
Bermuda is an archipelago of 181 small islands whose total mass is roughly the size of Manhattan.
According to AccuWeather, it is rare for the eye of a hurricane to surface in Bermuda. Since 1850, only 11 of the 130 tropical storms that have come within 100 miles of Bermuda have made landfall.
The island is a renowned offshore financial center with sturdy construction, and given its elevation, storm surge is not as much of a problem as it is with low-lying islands.
Ernesto has already hit the northeastern Caribbean, where it left hundreds of thousands of people without power or water in Puerto Rico after passing the U.S. territory as a tropical storm.
More than 180,000 of nearly 1.5 million customers were still without power more than two days after the storm. There were also 170,000 people without water, as the National Weather Service issued a new severe heat advisory, warning of “dangerously hot and humid conditions.”
“It’s not easy,” said Andrés Cabrera, 60, who lives in the coastal town of Carolina and has no water or electricity.
Like many people on the island, he couldn’t afford a generator or solar panels.
Officials hoped to restore power to 90% of Puerto Rico’s nearly 1.5 million customers by Sunday, but could not say when full power would be restored.
In the neighboring U.S. Virgin Islands, crews are also working to restore power, but 80 percent of customers had electricity restored.
Ernesto is the fifth named storm and third hurricane of the season in the Atlantic.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year, due to warmer ocean temperatures. It has forecast 17 to 25 named storms, including four to seven major hurricanes.