Ernesto strengthens as a hurricane after hitting Puerto Rico, could turn toward Canada

Ernesto grew into a hurricane on Wednesday as it dumped torrential rain on Puerto Rico, knocking out power to nearly half of the U.S. territory’s customers. The hurricane threatened to intensify into a major storm as it headed toward Bermuda.

The storm was located about 180 miles east of Grand Turk Island and was moving over open waters. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) and was moving northwest at 16 mph (26 km/h).

“The official forecast still calls for Ernesto to become a major hurricane within 48 hours,” the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.

A car drives down a coastal road littered with debris
A car drives through debris after Tropical Storm Ernesto in Humacao, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday. (Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters)

Ernesto is also expected to turn north on a path that may include Atlantic Canada, it said. to the Weather Network.

“While it is far too early to tell, some long-range models suggest that Ernesto could pass close enough to the Canadian east coast to produce heavy rainfall early to mid-next week,” the Weather Network said in an update Wednesday morning.

CBC meteorologist Tina Simpkin noted that this is a very early forecast.

“That route could change, but right now it has to go along the Nova Scotia coastline, bringing high winds and heavy rainfall to PEI,” Simpkin said.

The Canadian Hurricane Center The current forecast is for Ernesto to be south of Nova Scotia Monday morning.

“The storm will likely move over Canadian maritime waters, but the impact on land is uncertain at this time,” the center said. said on Wednesday afternoon on X, formerly Twitter.

Ernesto is expected to peak as a Category 3 hurricane as it moves north. As it approaches the eastern coast of Canada, cooler northern waters will likely bring Ernesto below hurricane strength. However, it will likely still be a coherent storm when it hits the Maritimes, Simpkin said.

Hurricane Warning for Bermuda

A hurricane warning was issued for Bermuda, while tropical storm warnings were lifted for Puerto Rico and the surrounding islands of Vieques and Culebra, and for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

“I know it was a long night listening to the wind howl,” U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan Jr. told a news conference.

An island-wide blackout was reported in St. Croix and at least six cell phone towers were knocked offline in the U.S. territory, said Daryl Jaschen, emergency management director. He added that the airports in St. Croix and St. Thomas were expected to reopen around noon.

A man stands in deep water with a rake in front of a house
Irvin Morales, 80, uses a rake to unclog a drain after Tropical Storm Ernesto in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday. (Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters)

Schools and government offices remained closed in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, where severe flooding was reported in several areas, forcing officials to block roads, some of which were strewn with trees. More than 140 flights to and from Puerto Rico were canceled.

“A lot of rain, a lot of rain,” Culebra Mayor Edilberto Romero said in a telephone interview. “There are trees that have fallen on public roads. There are some roofs that have blown away.”

Flash flood warnings remained in place on Wednesday afternoon due to continued rainfall.

In the northern coastal town of Toa Baja, which often floods, dozens of residents have moved their cars to higher ground.

“Everyone is worried,” said Víctor Báez as he drank beer with friends and watched the rain. He celebrated only briefly that he had power. “It’s going out again.”

Heavy rain forecast for US East Coast

Ernesto is forecast to move through open waters and strengthen into a major hurricane for the remainder of the week, with the center expected to pass near Bermuda on Saturday.

“Residents must prepare now before conditions worsen,” said Michael Weeks, Bermuda’s Minister of National Security. “This is not the time to sit back.”

Meteorologists also warned of heavy waves along the US East Coast.

“That means anyone going to the beach, even if the weather is nice and pleasant, it could be dangerous … with those rip currents,” said Robbie Berg, a warning meteorologist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

Between 100 and 150 millimeters of rain are expected in the US and the British Virgin Islands and between 150 and 200 millimeters in Puerto Rico. In isolated areas, even 250 millimeters of rain could fall.

In addition to the power outages across the entire island of St. Croix, more than half a million customers in Puerto Rico were without power.

On Tuesday evening, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency warned people in both US territories to prepare for “extended power outages.”

More than 720,000 customers were without power in Puerto Rico, along with 23 hospitals running on generators, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said Wednesday, adding that crews were assessing the damage and that it was too early to say when electricity would be restored.

“We are trying to get the system up and running as quickly as possible,” said Juan Saca, president of Luma Energy, the company that handles electricity transmission and distribution in Puerto Rico.

Ernesto is the fifth named storm of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season. Since 1966, only four other years have had three or more Atlantic hurricanes by mid-August, according to Philip Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year due to record-warm ocean temperatures. Between 17 and 25 named storms were predicted, with four to seven major hurricanes.

A stormy beach
Tourists sit on La Pared beach as Tropical Storm Ernesto moves past Luquillo, Puerto Rico on Tuesday. (Alejandro Granadillo/The Associated Press)

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