Bermuda assesses damage after Hurricane Gonzalo hits
Hurricane 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.
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.
"I think all of Bermuda would agree that we took a licking. We are a bit bruised. But we will recover from this," Bermuda's Premier Michael Dunkley said in a broadcast.
"The storm was very powerful and lasted longer than many expected," he added, though he noted things could have been much worse.
By 1500 GMT Saturday, Gonzalo was racing away from Bermuda, home to about 65,000 people, and was heading toward the coast of Newfoundland, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest forecast.
The Royal Gazette reported that 31,200 homes -- or a majority of Bermudians -- were without power.
Flooding and storm surges were reported all around the island, trees were down across many roads and the main hospital had suffered damage to its roof, the report said.
Sharon Scott, writing on Twitter, said: "The morning after the night before! We made it! No idea about our boats. Can't go out yet, roads impassable. Hope all in Bermuda are safe."
Still, "as far as roads and infrastructure we are in a much better position than many people might have thought," Dunkley said in his remarks, reported by the Gazette.
"A lot of the major arteries are open, and the hospital fared well."
Gonzalo was expected to pick up speed and pass close to Cape Race in Newfoundland later Saturday. The NHC warned of tropical storm conditions in the area.
Forecasters were also keeping watch on Tropical Storm Trudy, which was intensifying quickly, prompting Mexican authorities to issue a hurricane watch from east of Acapulco to Lagunas de Chacahua.
And there was also Hurricane Ana, the center of which was predicted to pass about 150 miles southwest of Hawaii's Big Island, triggering heavy downpours.
- Run on local stores -
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 the windows of their homes and placed sandbags outside in preparation.
Bermuda's international airport shuttered operations before the storm hit and was not expected to reopen until Saturday at the earliest, causing holiday misery for thousands of well-heeled tourists.
Gonzalo's wrath 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.
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