HAMILTON (Reuters) – Hurricane Igor pounded Bermuda with ferocious winds, waves and rain yesterday, toppling trees and power lines as the Atlantic island chain felt the force of one of the worst storms ever to affect it.
The US National Hurricane Center said Igor, packing top winds of 80 mph (130 kph), was closing in on the small British overseas territory, a popular tourist destination and wealthy global insurance centre located more than 600 miles (1,000 km) east of the US East Coast.
At 5 pm EDT (2100 GMT), Igor was about 85 miles (135 km) southwest of Bermuda, moving north at 15 miles (24 km) per hour.
The Miami-based centre called Igor “very large,“ with hurricane-force winds extending out about 90 miles (150 km) from its core, and radar images showed its swirling shape dwarfing the 21 square-mile (54 square km) island group.
Driving winds bent trees, felling many, and whipped up dangerous debris as surf battered the shoreline. Power lines were also knocked out, interrupting service to nearly 16,000 customers — nearly half of the territory’s electricity users — according to the local power utility Belco.
The hurricane’s core was to pass near Bermuda, to the west, later yesterday, forecasters said, adding hurricane conditions would continue overnight.
Bermuda Premier Ewart Brown had warned residents to brace for “one of the worst hurricanes to ever threaten our shores,” but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
“The rain is coming in sideways, basically it is very rough. Trees are down and there are branches blowing all over the place and there is lots of debris flying,” Mark Tatem, a photographer for The Royal Gazette newspaper, wrote in a live hurricane chatroom set up by the paper. Several roads in the capital Hamilton were flooded.
David Saul, a 70-year-old businessman whose home overlooks Devonshire Bay in the centre of the island chain, earlier reported seeing “stupendous” waves.
“The waves are thrashing on the road,” he said.
Bermuda’s roads were deserted and churches had canceled services. Most shops and restaurants in the capital were boarded up and residents had bought up emergency supplies such as fuel, batteries, food and candles.
Local authorities yesterday closed the causeway which links LF Wade International Airport and the eastern parish of St George’s to the rest of Bermuda. The airport was also closed.
The British Royal Navy’s destroyer HMS Manchester was on standby with a helicopter.
“It’s a ghost town out there,” said vacationer Tipper Raven of London, referring to the capital Hamilton.
The Bermuda government has warned residents to prepare for an impact similar to that of Hurricane Fabian in 2003, which killed four people and caused millions of dollars of damage.
Hurricane expert Jeff Masters of private US forecaster Weather Underground said Igor had lost some of its original power due to the collapse of its eyewall — a hurricane’s most damaging inner zone — earlier yesterday.
He wrote in a blog that buildings in Bermuda, which has a rigorous building code, were some of the best-constructed in the world, and were generally located at higher elevations out of storm surge zones, which would help limit damage from Igor.
The hurricane centre predicted total rainfall of 6 to 9 inches (15 to 22 cm) over the Atlantic territory and said Igor’s storm surge could produce significant coastal flooding and destructive waves, particularly along the south coast.
Large sea swells would also affect the US East Coast through today, it added.
East of Igor, weakening Tropical Storm Julia posed no threat to land, and it was expected to dissipate on Tuesday, the hurricane center said.
In Mexico over the weekend, the remnants of Hurricane Karl dissipated over the mountains of south central Mexico, after killing at least eight people, emergency workers said.
