Hurricane Ernesto, whose strong winds left hundreds of thousands of residents without power and brought heavy rains to Puerto Rico, was heading toward Bermuda on Thursday.
The storm, which strengthened into a hurricane after passing over Puerto Rico on Wednesday, was last seen moving at sea about 675 miles south of Bermuda at a speed of about 16 miles per hour. It had maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.
“Satellite imagery indicates that Typhoon Ernesto is gradually strengthening,” the NHC said in its 2 a.m. ET update.
A vehicle damaged after the Ernesto crashed into Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday. Jaydee Lee Serrano/AFP – Getty Images
The Bermuda Meteorological Service has issued a hurricane watch, and its director, Dr. Michael Brennan, said in a video briefing on Wednesday that Ernesto was likely to attain “major hurricane strength or near major strength” when its centre passes near or over Bermuda on Saturday.
Bermuda’s Minister of National Security, Michael Weeks, urged people to take the storm seriously and prepare for its impacts.
“As I’ve said before, it only takes one storm to cause significant damage and disrupt our way of life,” Weeks said Wednesday. “Now is not the time to let our guard down.”
Meanwhile, tropical storm warnings for Puerto Rico, the neighboring islands of Vieques and Culebra, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands were lifted after the storm passed through the region.
“Listening to that wind, I know it’s been a long night,” U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said at a news conference.
No deaths from the storm have been reported in Puerto Rico, but more than 730,000 customers were without power on Wednesday, and some also had water cut off, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said.
More than 10 inches of rain fell in the Barranquitas region of Puerto Rico, according to the National Weather Service in San Juan, and much of the island remained under a flood watch as of Wednesday night.
Shocking video posted on social media shows sailors being rescued from a tugboat that ran aground off the coast of St. Maarten after being hit by strong winds and heavy rain on Tuesday.
Police closed flooded roads as Ernesto passed through Fajardo, Puerto Rico on Wednesday. Jaydee Lee Serrano/AFP – Getty Images
Before Ernesto hit Puerto Rico, President Joe Biden issued orders authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief efforts and complement local disaster relief.
Forecasters said Ernesto could also cause dangerous rip currents along the US Atlantic coast this week and into the weekend.
The Canadian Hurricane Centre said it was too early to tell, but Ernesto’s current track meant it was expected to affect the eastern provinces of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia by the weekend.
Ernesto is the fifth named storm and the third hurricane in what is already an unusually busy hurricane season.
The Associated Press contributed.
