Hurricane Ernesto Gets Stronger as It Churns Toward Bermuda

15 Aug 2024

BNN

(Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Ernesto is gaining strength as it plows northward toward Bermuda, threatening to drench the British territory with heavy rain and unleash flash floods.

The storm was 550 miles (885 kilometers) south-southwest of Bermuda according to an advisory from the US National Hurricane Center at 2 p.m. in New York. Its top winds reached 85 miles per hour, making it a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.

Those winds are going to get faster. Ernesto is expected to become a major Category 3 hurricane by about 2 p.m. Friday as it bears down on Bermuda, but may weaken to Category 2 by the time it reaches the island Saturday morning, according to AccuWeather Inc. The track currently shows the storm passing to the west of the island.

“It won’t be a direct hit,” Alyssa Glenny, an AccuWeather meteorologist, said in an interview. “But a Category 2 storm is nothing to joke about.” Hurricanes with wind speeds between 96 and 110 miles per hour are labeled Category 2.

As the storm moves north, the ocean water gets cooler and it will pass through a pocket of drier air, said Glenny. Both factors will weaken its force.

Bermuda Electric Light Co., the local electric utility, is urging residents to prepare for the storm and warning that the high winds may lead to power outages. Up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain could fall in some areas, the hurricane center said.

Bermuda may weather the storm better than Puerto Rico, which was grazed by Ernesto early Wednesday. The US territory is known for a rickety power grid that’s vulnerable to hurricanes, and more than 390,000 homes and businesses remain without power as of midday Thursday. In contrast, Bermuda’s infrastructure is sturdier, according to Glenny.

“The infrastructure in Bermuda is impressive,” she said. “They have prepared for this.”

Michael Weeks, Bermuda’s minister of national security, said in a briefing Wednesday that Ernesto is expected to bring hurricane-force force winds, dangerous seas and a high likelihood of power outages.

“It only takes one storm to cause significant damage and disrupt our way of life,” Weeks said.

(Updates location in second paragraph, adds comment from meteorologist in fourth paragraph.)