The island continued to experience severe and unsettled weather conditions resulting in sustained 45-55 knot winds with gusts of around 70 knots.
HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – A powerful winter storm packing hurricane-force winds knocked out power to 2,300 customers overnight and forced officials on Thursday to close a bridge linking the east end of the island with the rest of Bermuda, stranding workers heading to Hamilton.
The narrow, low-lying Causeway Bridge – from which four people were swept to their deaths in a major 2003 hurricane – was initially set to be closed from midnight to 9 a.m. but officials extended the deadline to noon and then to 4 p.m. so engineers could carry out a structural assessment.
The Bermuda Weather Service (BWS) said the island, which has been battered for two days, remained under a storm warning which would remain in effect until late Thursday afternoon.
The island continued to experience severe and unsettled weather conditions resulting in sustained 45-55 knot winds with gusts of around 70 knots.
The Department of Marine and Ports said it had received several reports of sunken and broken-free vessels.
The closure of the bridge meant thousands of people were stranded at home, unable to get to work in Hamilton and other parts of the island, and also prevented taxi drivers getting to and from the L.F. Wade International Airport to deliver and pick up passengers.
All flights from North America to the island were cancelled on Wednesday – only a British Airways flight from London’s Gatwick Airport made it to the island – and high winds, coupled with the bridge closure, caused further flight havoc on Thursday.
The Department of Airport Operations said that L.F. Wade International remained open. With the exception of JetBlue Airways’ service from New York and US Airways’ service from Philadelphia, all flights are operational although delays were expected.
A government spokeswoman said on Thursday morning: “At this stage, and in the overwhelming interest of public safety, the closure of the Causeway Bridge has been extended to 4 p.m. A structural assessment of the Causeway will be made prior to its reopening. Meanwhile, it continues to be closely monitored by the Bermuda Police Service and the Ministry of Works and Engineering.”
The spokeswoman said that all government offices remained open for business as normal.
“As a result of the weather conditions, public transportation services have experienced delays.”
She said bus routes had been affected but were back to normal early in the day although ferry service had been cancelled “until further notice”.
The Bermuda Electric Light Company (Belco) said 2,300 customers were without power at 6.30 a.m, with two main lines out in St. David’s and Paget, and other scattered outages across the island. That number was reduced to 1,900 by noon.
A Belco spokeswoman said: “We will continue to provide updates throughout the day. As the weather settles, we will be able to provide more accurate restoration estimates.”
A BWS spokesman said: “A powerfully low pressure system to our northeast continues to produce showers with gusts to hurricane force. Storm-force winds will then subside this evening as pressure increases from the west.”
Forecast temperatures for Thursday and Friday remained a chilly 59 Fahrenheit (15 Celcius).
Copyright 2010 Anguilla Express, Andrews Publishing Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.