TOA BAJA, Puerto Rico (news agencies) — Ernesto strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday as it dropped torrential rain on Puerto Rico and left half of all customers in the U.S. territory without power as it threatened to become a major storm en route to Bermuda.
The storm was located about 180 miles (290 kilometers) east of Grand Turk Island and was moving over open waters. It had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and was moving northwest at 16 mph (26 kph).
A hurricane watch was issued for Bermuda, while tropical storm warnings were discontinued for Puerto Rico and its outlying islands of Vieques and Culebra and for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.
“I know it was a long night listening to that wind howl,” U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said in a news conference.
An island-wide blackout was reported in St. Croix, and at least six cell phone towers were knocked offline across 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 at midday.
Schools and government agencies remained closed in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, where heavy flooding was reported in several areas, forcing officials to block roads, some of which were strewn with trees. More than 140 flights were canceled to and from Puerto Rico.
“A lot of rain, a lot of rain,” Culebra Mayor Edilberto Romero said in a phone interview. “We have trees that have fallen on public roads. There are some roofs that are blown off.”
Flash flood warnings remained Wednesday afternoon because of ongoing rains.
In the north coastal town of Toa Baja, which is prone to flooding, dozens of residents moved their cars to higher areas.
“Everyone is worried,” said Víctor Báez as he sipped beer with friends and watched the rain fall. He only briefly celebrated that he had power. “It’s going to go out again.”
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