Hurricane Ernesto Strikes Bermuda, Leaving Thousands Without Power
Hurricane Ernesto has made landfall in Bermuda, resulting in tens of thousands of residents being left without electricity as the storm wreaked havoc on the British territory. The Category 1 storm brought maximum sustained winds of 140 km/h (87 mph) to Bermuda, which has a population of approximately 64,000, at 6 AM local time (09:00 GMT) on Saturday morning.
The local utility company, BELCO (Bermuda Electric Light Company), reported that the storm caused almost immediate power outages across the island, with around 26,100 out of about 36,000 customers without electricity by 9 AM (13:00 GMT). According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), Ernesto is expected to gradually move away from Bermuda throughout the day. The storm will then track north-northeast and is predicted to approach or pass east of the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador by Monday evening, according to NHC forecasts.
Prior to reaching Bermuda, Ernesto had already impacted the northeastern part of the Caribbean, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents in Puerto Rico without electricity or water after the storm passed through as a tropical storm. The NHC has warned that dangerous waves and current effects can also be anticipated in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, and parts of the Atlantic in Canada over the coming days.
In preparation for the storm’s arrival in Bermuda, public transportation was suspended, and the airport was closed on Friday evening. “Hurricane Ernesto poses a serious threat to our community,” said Michael Weeks, the Minister of National Security. “This is not a storm to take lightly.”
As of 3 PM on Friday afternoon, Ernesto’s winds had caused power outages for 5,400 of Bermuda’s 36,000 customers, according to BELCO, which indicated that they had called their repair crews back from the field due to the dangerous working conditions. In Puerto Rico, over 180,000 residents remained without power more than two days after the storm’s passage. An additional 170,000 people lacked water, while the national weather service issued yet another warning for extreme heat and humidity.
“It’s not easy,” said 60-year-old Andres Cabrera, a resident of the northern coastal town of Carolina, who was without water or electricity. Like many others in Puerto Rico, he could not afford a generator or solar panels. Cabrera mentioned relying on “the breeze coming in from the street” for relief.
In the nearby U.S. Virgin Islands, efforts were also underway to restore power, with 80 percent of customers having returned to the grid. Ernesto is the fifth named storm and the third hurricane of this Atlantic hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year due to record-high sea temperatures, expecting 17 to 25 named storms, including 4 to 7 major hurricanes.