Ernesto Leaves Half of Puerto Rico in the Dark

Hurricane Ernesto dropped torrential rain on Puerto Rico and knocked out power for nearly half of all customers in the US territory Wednesday as it threatened to strengthen into a major hurricane en route to Bermuda. The storm was over open water about 675 miles south-southwest of Bermuda early Thursday, with maximum sustained winds of 85mph and moving northwest at 16mph, the AP reports.

• A hurricane watch was issued for Bermuda, where tropical storm conditions were possible Friday and hurricane conditions were possible Saturday. Tropical storm warnings were discontinued for Puerto Rico and its outlying islands of Vieques and Culebra and for the US and British Virgin Islands after the storm passed.

• "I know it was a long night listening to that wind howl," US Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said at a news conference. An islandwide blackout was reported on St. Croix, and at least six cellphone towers were offline across the US territory, said Daryl Jaschen, emergency management director.
• Schools and government agencies were closed in the US 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 to and from Puerto Rico were canceled. Flash flood warnings remained up because of continuing rain.
• More than 640,000 customers lost power in Puerto Rico, and 23 hospitals were operating on generators, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said Wednesday. He added that crews were assessing damage and it was too early to tell when electricity would be restored. Puerto Rico's power grid was razed by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and it remains frail as crews continue to rebuild the system.

• Ernesto, a Category 1 hurricane, was gradually strengthening and could become a Category 3 hurricane by Friday. Its center was expected to pass near Bermuda on Saturday. Between 3 and 6 inches of rain was forecast, with more possible in isolated places. "Residents need to prepare now before conditions worsen," Bermuda's National Security Minister Michael Weeks said. "Now is not the time for complacency."
• Forecasters also warned of heavy swells along the US East Coast. "That means that anybody who goes to the beach, even if the weather is beautiful and nice, it could be dangerous … with those rip currents," said Robbie Berg, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center .

(More Hurricane Ernesto stories.)