Hurricane Gonzalo spares Bermuda the worst

HAMILTON, Bermuda – Bermuda residents breathed a collective sigh of relief Saturday, October 18, after Hurricane Gonzalo appeared to have spared the Atlantic archipelago from catastrophic damage.

Gonzalo made a direct hit on Bermuda as a strong category two storm, knocking down trees, damaging a hospital and cutting power to most of the island’s residents.

But “all in all, we came out of this storm much better than we expected,” Bermuda’s Premier Michael Dunkley said in a broadcast.

Dunkley said Bermuda “took a licking” from Gonzalo but praised residents for effectively preparing for the storm and for staying in their homes.

There were no immediate reports of fatalities.

“We are a bit bruised. But we will recover from this,” Dunkley said in his remarks, which were reported by The Royal Gazette newspaper.

Gonzalo, which had already killed one person and caused property damage in the Caribbean, buffeted the British overseas territory in the Atlantic with maximum sustained winds of 110 miles (175 kilometers) per hour, forecasters said.

Heading for Newfoundland

By 1800 GMT Saturday, Gonzalo was racing away from Bermuda, home to about 65,000 people, and heading toward the coast of Newfoundland, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest forecast.

The NHC warned of tropical storm conditions in the area.

Initially, some 31,200 homes – or a majority of Bermudians – were without power but this was down to about 20,000 by the afternoon, according to the BELCO electric company.

“Bermuda made it through #Gonzalo ok! St. George’s in the East has a few fallen trees & parts of roofs missing. Could be worse!” Bermuda resident Jessica Rowe said on Twitter.

“As far as roads and infrastructure, we are in a much better position than many people might have thought,” Dunkley said.

He added that many major roads were open, and that despite some reported damage to the roof, the hospital fared well.

Forecasters were also keeping watch on Tropical Storm Trudy, which was drenching portions of southern Mexico, and Hurricane Ana, the center of which was predicted to pass about 150 miles (241 km) southwest of Hawaii’s Big Island, triggering heavy downpours.

Gonzalo caused widespread disruption in affluent Bermuda as it closed in.

Schools, businesses, grocery stores and government offices all closed early, and many people boarded up windows and placed sandbags outside homes in preparation.

Bermuda’s international airport shuttered operations before the storm and was not expected to reopen until later Saturday, causing holiday misery for thousands of well-heeled tourists.

Gonzalo had already been felt in the Virgin Islands, the northern coasts of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and portions of the Bahamas, as well as the southeastern coast of the United States.

The hurricane’s only known victim so far was an octogenarian sailor killed in the Dutch territory of St Maarten.

Gonzalo was the seventh storm of the Atlantic season, which stretches from June to November.

Hurricane Cristobal left at least four people dead in late August when it thrashed the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands and the Dominican Republic with heavy rains causing serious flooding. – Rappler.com