On Friday, Hurricane Fiona slammed Bermuda in the Atlantic with strong winds and rain as it moved northward into eastern Canada, where it poses a threat of becoming one of the worst hurricanes in Canadian history.
Earlier in the week, Fiona tore through a number of Caribbean islands, leaving at least eight people dead and practically all of Puerto Rico’s 3.3 million residents without power during a blistering heat wave. Five days later, over a million people are still without electricity.
As it reached Bermuda, the storm was a Category 4 hurricane, but as it passed west of the British colony early on Friday, it weakened to a Category 3. Still, gusts reached as high as 103 miles per hour (166 kph), the Bermuda Weather Service said in a bulletin.
About 29,000 consumers did not had power on Friday morning, according to Bermuda Electric Light Co., the island’s main power supplier. However, Michelle Pitcher, the Bermuda Weather Service’s deputy director, noted that the region seems to have mostly escaped damage.
Pitcher said, ‘It’s been a long night, but there have been no reports of injuries or fatalities. There may be some people who have roof damage, but nothing negative has been reported so far. We built our homes solidly, as I already stated.’
To survive the regular hurricanes, many residences in Bermuda are constructed with little shuttered windows, slate roofs, and limestone blocks.
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