The US National Hurricane Centre said the core of the “very large” category 1 hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds near to 120 kph, was about 203km north northwest of Bermuda, a popular resort and global insurance service hub, as of 5am EDT/0900 GMT.
A car makes it way through driving wind and heavy rains in Southampton, Bermuda, as Hurricane Igor strikes the island, September 18, 2010
Hurricane force winds extended about 150km from its core.
The hurricane was moving north northeast at 32km per hour. A turn northwest away from the US coast and an increase in forward speed were expected in the next 24 hours.
The Canadian Hurricane Centre issued a tropical storm watch for the coast of Newfoundland in maritime eastern Canada.
Bermuda residents reported uprooted trees, flying debris, widespread power outages, some flooding of streets and homes and boats torn free from moorings. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Well over half of the territory’s electricity users were hit by cuts in power according to the local power utility Belco. Bermuda has a population of more than 67,000.
Police spokesman Dwayne Caines said yesterday high winds had driven waves up to 3-3.6 metre high “almost coming to the buildings in front of the ferry terminal” in the capital Hamilton.
“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 were flooded.
Bermuda’s roads were deserted and churches had cancelled services. Most shops and restaurants in the capital were boarded up and residents had bought up emergency supplies like fuel, batteries, food and candles.
Local authorities yesterday closed the causeway that links L.F. Wade International Airport and the eastern parish of St George’s to the rest of Bermuda. The airport was also closed.
Hurricane expert Jeff Masters of private US forecaster Weather Underground said Igor lost some of its original destructive power due to the collapse of its eyewall – a hurricane’s most damaging inner zone – earlier yesterday.
The hurricane centre predicted total rainfall of 15 to 22cm over the Atlantic territory and said Igor’s storm surge could produce significant coastal flooding and destructive waves, particularly along the south coast.
East of Igor, Tropical Storm Julia posed no threat to land, and was expected to gradually weaken and dissipate within the next 48 hours, the hurricane centre 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.
Karl appeared to have spared Mexican oil operations from major damage after sweeping through the Bay of Campeche, where Mexico produces more than two-thirds of its 2.55 million barrels per day of crude output.
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