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Mexico City (France24) – Category 1 Hurricane Ernesto is heading towards Bermuda this Thursday, August 15, with the potential for dangerous storm surges and heavy rains. The National Hurricane Center has issued an alert in the last few hours, predicting that the weather phenomenon will reach the British Overseas Territory next Saturday, August 17. Ernesto made landfall in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, leaving about 900,000 people without power, a third of the population.
Bermuda is preparing for the arrival of the weather phenomenon Ernesto, which has now transformed into a Category 1 hurricane.
The US-based National Hurricane Center (CNH) on Thursday (August 15) issued an alert for the archipelago for next Saturday (August 17).
“All bearings indicate the system is a major hurricane near Bermuda,” CNH warned.
Meteorological authorities said Ernesto would approach the British overseas territory late Friday. According to CNH forecasts, the phenomenon could become a major hurricane near the island by Saturday, August 17, bringing strong winds, flash flooding and dangerous storm surges.
“I cannot stress enough how important it is for every resident to use this time to prepare. We have seen in the past the devastating effects of complacency,” stressed National Security Minister Michael Weeks, while urging residents to take precautions.
The Bermuda hurricane warning comes as the tropical storm watch for Puerto Rico, including the outer islands of Vieques and Culebra, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, has been suspended.
“I know it’s going to be a long night, listening to the howling wind,” U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan Jr. said at a news conference.
Ernesto is the fifth named storm of the hurricane season and is expected to be very strong in the Atlantic.
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Hurricane Ernesto arrives in Puerto RicoHurricane Ernesto left winds of up to 110 km/h in Puerto Rico and seems to be moving towards the island… I hope all is well for the 139 channel followers who live there.
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Last week, slow-moving Category 1 Hurricane Debbie struck Florida’s Gulf Coast and subsequently dumped up to 2 feet of rain on parts of the Carolinas.
Hurricane Beryl, the first hurricane of the season, ripped through the Caribbean and Texas Gulf Coast last month as the first Category 5 storm ever recorded in the Atlantic, killing dozens of people and causing an estimated $6 billion in widespread damage.
Also read: Ernesto becomes hurricane after bringing heavy rains to Puerto Rico
Hurricane Ernesto leaves 900,000 without power in Puerto Rico
New round of blackouts. More than 900,000 people in Puerto Rico were still without electricity on Thursday after Hurricane Ernesto caused dozens of floods on the island.
LUMA Energy, the company responsible for energy transmission and distribution, said that according to the latest report released at 08:05 (12:05 GMT), some 470,144 customers were still without power, equivalent to 31.9% of users on their sites.
“Our crews are conducting damage assessments in your area as Tropical Storm Ernesto passes through Puerto Rico,” the company reported.
They noted: “During this phase of the evaluation, the ability to report outages through MiLUMA will be unavailable. Our teams will continue to work hard to restore service as quickly and safely as possible.”
According to the company, the Caguas region was the worst affected by the outage, with 129,423 customers without power, followed by Mayagüez with 119,369 customers, Carolina with 95,478 customers, Ponce with 72,748 customers, Arecibo with 20,245 customers, San Juan with 18,801 customers, and Bayamon with 12,720 customers affected.
In response to this situation, Carlos Méndez, spokesman for the ruling New Progressive Party in the House of Representatives, and Congressman Víctor Parés called on LUMA Energy to speed up the restoration of services and activate the teams of the American Energy Association Public (APPA, for its English abbreviation).
“For the safety of our employees, we are calling on Luma to begin sending crews to all areas without power so that power can be restored as quickly as possible, if needed,” Mendez commented in a statement.
More than 300,000 customers were without water because of the blackout, said Pedro Pierluisi, the island’s governor. Many residents questioned the widespread blackouts because Ernesto was only a tropical storm when it passed over the island.
“I can’t sleep at all,” said Ramón Mercedes Paredes, 41, a construction worker who planned to sleep outside Thursday night to beat the heat. “I haven’t even had time to shower yet,” he added.
The national weather service also issued a heat warning for “dangerously hot and humid conditions.” In the coastal city of Toya Baja in the north of the island, many residents moved their vehicles to higher ground and several roads were closed due to flooding.
In Puerto Rico, the situation has brought back the specter of Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm that devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, killing at least 2,975 people and knocking out the island’s power grid, which is still being rebuilt.
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