Now a Category 1 hurricane, Ernesto is forecast to strengthen into a much more powerful hurricane before it reaches Bermuda late on Friday, a British island territory far out in the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
At 5pm on Thursday it was located 800km southwest of Bermuda as it headed north, packing winds of 140km/h.
5 pm AST - Hurricane — National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) #Ernesto moving toward Bermuda. Conditions expected to deteriorate there beginning Friday afternoon. Here are the Key Messages, visit https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ for details. pic.twitter.com/LZ7hixAufIAugust 15, 2024
By Saturday, Ernesto will have become what the NHC describes as a "large hurricane," as its centre passes near or directly over the islands, where it will produce up to 40cm of rain, prolonged strong winds, flash flooding and a dangerous storm surge.
Only 11 storms have made direct landfall on Bermuda, an archipelago of 181 islands with a population of 64,000, since records began in 1851.
Ernesto became a hurricane on Wednesday after leaving Puerto Rico as a tropical storm, where it battered the island with heavy rainfall. Images and video footage from the island showed flood waters covering roadways, downed powerlines and destroyed homes and vehicles.
As of midday on Thursday, some 410,000 homes and businesses - about a quarter of all customers on the US territory - remained without electricity, according to LUMA Energy, the Caribbean island's main power supplier.
Ernesto was expected to stay well west of the US East Coast as it travelled north over the ocean. However, the storm was forecast to produce life-threatening surf and rip currents across the region, the centre said.
Ernesto is the fifth named Atlantic storm of what is expected to be an intense hurricane season. Slow-moving Debby hit Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane just last week before soaking some parts of the Carolinas with up to 60cm of rain.
