Hurricane Florence blew out windows, peeled away the roofs of at least three houses and knocked out power to thousands in Bermuda before churning past the wealthy British island chain and heading out over the open ocean.
As the whirling eye of the storm traveled away from the archipelago, the lashing winds and sea surge tapered off. Authorities reported only a few minor injuries and no deaths.
The government discontinued its tropical storm warning late on Monday.
"We are expecting [Florence] to begin accelerating north and northeast over the North Atlantic shipping lanes and there should be some impact to the Canadian Maritimes," said Hugh Cobb, a meteorologist with the US National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Bermuda's international airport was expected to resume service yesterday along with ferry and bus service. A causeway linking the main island with St. George's Parish was reopened on Monday.
Florence, a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 137kph was about 395km north of Bermuda late on Monday night, according to the hurricane center. It was traveling to the northeast at 29kph.
At least 18,000 homes and businesses were without power on Monday evening, according to Bermuda's electric company. Crews with the territory's utility were trying to fix damaged lines across the island chain.
Some people were not fazed by the latest storm to hit Bermuda, which enforces strict building codes to withstand rough weather.
"Everything is normal," said Rowena Smith, an employee at The Reefs, a cliffside resort on the vulnerable south shore. More than 80 guests stayed to ride out the storm at the hotel.
"They're in high spirits. We have a lot of repeaters in house now, and they're having fun," Smith said.
The storm caused high surf and strong rip currents along parts of the eastern US coast, about 640 miles west of Bermuda.
Forecasters said Florence was expected to weaken further as it passes over cooler waters, moving close to or over Newfoundland, Canada later in the week before swerving into the North Atlantic.
But it was expected to remain a large, powerful storm for several more days.
Florence was generating wave heights up to 5.2m off the mid-Atlantic coast, Cobb said.
Though no Bermudans were reported injured during the storm, officials at the Bermuda Zoo said two pink flamingos were killed by broken tree branches.
RSS