Hurricane Ernesto advanced towards Bermuda on Thursday, threatening the island with hazardous storm surges and substantial rainfall after causing widespread power outages in Puerto Rico. The Category 1 hurricane was located 965 kilometers southwest of Bermuda, moving north at a slow pace with winds reaching 85 miles per hour at dawn, according to the National Hurricane Centre's advisory. Bermuda was issued a hurricane warning, with forecasts indicating Ernesto's approach to the British territory by late Friday. The centre warned that by Saturday, Ernesto would intensify into a formidable hurricane near Bermuda, bringing sustained strong winds, flash floods, and perilous storm surges.
"Urgent measures to safeguard lives and properties must be completed," advised the hurricane centre. Ernesto intensified into a hurricane on Wednesday, unleashing torrential rains and powerful winds on Puerto Rico. Media from the island depicted flooded streets, fallen power lines, and damaged homes and vehicles. As of early Thursday, approximately 470,000 households and businesses, representing about a third of all customers in the US territory, were still without power, reported LUMA Energy, Puerto Rico's primary power provider. About half of the island's customers had lost power by Wednesday.
Ernesto was projected to bypass the US East Coast as it continued northward, but the storm was anticipated to generate life-threatening waves and rip currents across the region, the centre noted. Ernesto marks the fifth named Atlantic storm of a predicted severe hurricane season. Just last week, slow-moving Debby struck Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane, followed by heavy rainfall in parts of the Carolinas, reaching up to two feet. Hurricane Beryl, the season's first, was the earliest recorded Category 5 storm in the Atlantic, impacting the Caribbean and the Texas Gulf Coast last month, resulting in numerous fatalities and an estimated $6 billion in damages.
