Bermuda pulls through Igor but loses power
(CNS): Bermuda has emerged from Hurricane Igor this morning with what officials say is major damage to the power system. Some 26,000 people have lost power as a result of the category one hurricane as gusts reached 93mph. A spokesperson for the local power company BELCO said at first look, "there appears to be considerable damage to the electricity distribution system Island-wide" but assessment teams and work crews are currently evaluating the state of the system. Igor is now moving away but passed at its closest point around midnight some 41 nautical miles to the west of the Island.
Early reports have suggested the island has escaped major damage although there has been flooding and minor damage to a lot of properties. Streets in Hamilton were covered in several inches of water and littered with tree branches and other debris. St. George’s has been hit heavily according to reports in the Royal Gazette.
Igor remains a category one storm and tropical conditions are still impacting Bermuda as it heads north-northeast at around 21 mph and it is expected to become a strong extra-tropical cyclone in the next few days as it heads to Newfoundland, the NHC said. Tropical Storm Julia is also heading towards the north east but it is expected to dissipate over the next few days.
Meanwhile, 400 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands forecasters have given another area of low pressure an 80% chance of becoming a tropical system in the next two days.
Category: Science and Nature
I was in constant contact with very good friends of mine in Bermuda.
Father God I thank you for watchingover and protecting Bermuda as it lay in the path of Igor and that it weakened to a category 1.
Thank God Igor weakened to a Cat 1 before making landfall. I pray to God for the people of Bermuda.
I don’t want to upset Mary Magdalene on safari in Kenya, or our Premier who assembled all of our religious ministers to pray about crime on the steps of the LA building, but if Ivan was Cat4/5 and passed 20 miles to the south of Cayman, wouldn’t that make Bermuda about 3 or 4 Cats better than Cayman in God’s eyes?