Hurricane Imelda hits Bermuda, schools and airports closed

2025-10-02 13:22:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The government deploys soldiers to secure infrastructure, clear roads, and assist with emergency shelters.

The core of Hurricane Imelda has now moved over Bermuda, battering the British territory with destructive winds, damaging waves and flash flooding.

"The Category 2 hurricane made landfall late last night with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (161 km/h) ," the National Weather Service in Miami, Florida, said. The storm was located about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Bermuda, moving east to northeast as it moved directly over the island.

"Damaging waves and flash flooding are expected through the morning. But conditions will improve in the coming hours as the hurricane's core moves northeast of the island ," the National Hurricane Center said in a post on X.

Imelda developed rapidly after forming as a tropical storm over the Bahamas on Sunday afternoon. It intensified into a hurricane on Monday evening as it moved through the Bahamas and crossed the east coast of Florida, bringing heavy rainfall and triggering hurricane warnings across the central and northwestern Bahamas.

Local authorities closed public schools, government offices and the international airport yesterday, while officials warned residents to prepare for dangerous conditions. Fifty-three people used emergency shelters and 654 were left without power, the Bermuda government said in a statement.

" This is a dangerous storm system that could bring damaging winds, heavy rainfall and significant coastal impacts ," said Michael Weeks, Bermuda's minister of national security.

The hurricane center also warned that Imelda would bring 50 to 100 mm of rain across Bermuda and produce a dangerous storm surge that could cause coastal flooding. Hundreds of customers lost power before Imelda made landfall.

Earlier in the week, Imelda hit the northern Caribbean, causing flooding.

In eastern Cuba, more than 18,000 people were evacuated to Guantanamo province, while flooding and landslides cut off access to 17 communities housing more than 24,000 people in Santiago de Cuba. Two people died in Cuba and one person remains missing in Haiti after heavy flooding.

Hurricane Imelda comes just after Category 4 Hurricane Humberto moved past Bermuda yesterday./ CNA