This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken at 4 p.m. Eastern Time and provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Ernesto northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, moving over open ocean on Wednesday, August 14, 2024.
AP/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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AP/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Ernesto began lashing Bermuda Friday night with high winds and rain after officials in the tiny mid-Atlantic British territory opened shelters and closed government offices.
The Category 2 storm, located 95 miles (150 kilometers) south-southwest of Bermuda, has maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (155 km/h). It is moving northeast at 13 mph (20 km/h).
According to the National Hurricane Center, the eye of Hurricane Ernesto is likely to be very close to or over Bermuda early Saturday morning, which is expected to cause significant coastal flooding.
“Preparations to protect lives and property need to be completed quickly,” the center said.
The storm is expected to dump 6 to 9 inches of rain. Forecasters note that Ernesto is a major hurricane, with hurricane-force winds extending up to 75 miles (120 km) from its center and tropical storm-force winds extending up to 275 miles (445 km).
In preparation for the storm, officials in the wealthy British territory suspended public transport and closed the airport on Friday night.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Weeks warned of dangerous weather conditions starting late Friday, with more than 14% of customers without power and the situation continuing to grow.
“Hurricane Ernesto poses a serious threat to our community,” he said. “This is not a storm to be taken lightly.”
Dangerous surf and rip currents are also possible in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas and Atlantic Canada over the next few days, the center said.
Ernesto is forecast to be near or east of Newfoundland Monday night.
Bermuda is an archipelago of 181 small islands with a total land area roughly the size of Manhattan.
According to AccuWeather, it is rare for a hurricane’s eye to make landfall. AccuWeather notes that since 1850, only 11 of the 130 tropical storms that have come within 100 miles (160 km) of Bermuda have made landfall.
The island is an offshore financial center known for its strong structure and because of its elevation, typhoons do not pose as many problems as on lower-lying islands.
Ernesto earlier struck the northeastern Caribbean, leaving hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans without power or water after sweeping across the US territory as a tropical storm.
More than 180,000 of the nearly 1.5 million customers remain without power more than two days after the storm. Another 170,000 are without water as the National Weather Service issued another severe heat warning, warning of “dangerously hot and humid conditions.”
“It’s not easy,” said Andrés Cabrera, 60, who lives in the coastal North Carolina city without water or electricity.
Like many on the island, he cannot afford a generator or solar panels. Cabrera said he relies on “the wind blowing in from the street” for relief.
Officials said they hope to restore power to 90% of Puerto Rico’s nearly 1.5 million customers by Sunday, but did not say when full power could be restored.
Juan Saca, president of Luma Energy, a private company that operates the island’s power transmission and distribution, said that of the 152 critical infrastructure sites without power that were prioritized, 36 now have power.
In the U.S. Virgin Islands, crews are also working to restore power, with 80% of customers having power restored.
Ernesto is the fifth named storm and third major storm of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year due to record-warm ocean temperatures. The agency is forecasting 17 to 25 named storms, with four to seven major hurricanes.
