The exterior bands of remains distant from Hurgagan Humberto struck the Bermuda on Tuesday before a more direct pass of the new and stronger Hurricane Imelda on the tiny British territory.
Imelda had maximum sustained winds of 100 MPH on Wednesday and its center was to be near the island in the evening, said the National Center for American Hurricane in Miami.
CBS News
A hurricane warning for Bermuda was in effect before Imelda.
“I cannot overestimate the gravity of this threat,” said Michael Weeks, Minister of National Security of Bermuda. “This is not the case, I must emphasize, a grain of passage.”
He said Bermuda would endure extended winds on the hurricane force until six o’clock from Wednesday evening.
The island’s international airport, government schools and offices were to close on Wednesday, and Weeks said that residents should have all storm preparations completed at noon.
“Imelda has the potential to damage and disturb our island considerably,” he said.
Bermuda is a rich British territory with strong concrete structures capable of resisting serious storms.
Far northwest of the island, Humberto decreased on the Atlantic, losing its former Hurricane force.
The two storm systems created oceanal swells which were likely to cause dangerous surfing conditions on Bermuda, Bahamas and the East Côte du United States. Several unoccupied houses along the external banks of the North Carolina collapsed in the ocean on Tuesday While Wave After Wave was rolling from the Atlantic.
Earlier this week, Imelda beat the east of Cuba, killing two people, according to Prime Minister Manuel Marrero. Floods and landslides have also reduced communities and forced evacuations, according to state media.
Imelda also flooded Bahamas’ games on Monday, the new Providence hit hard. More than a dozen public schools on this island and on the Grand Bahama and Abaco nearby remained closed on Tuesday.
“The consequences are serious,” said Prime Minister Philip Davis. “The flood waters remain.”
Imelda, who reached the force of hurricanes on Tuesday, is the fourth hurricane of the Atlantic season this year.
The Oceanic and Atmospheric National Administration (NOAA) predicted a season greater than normal with 13 to 18 storms named. Among these, five to nine had to become hurricanes, including two to five major hurricanes, which have winds of 111 MPH or more.
The Atlantic Hurricane season takes place from June 1 to November 30.