See Hurricane Ernesto’s Expected Path

Hurricane Ernesto strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday morning, causing heavy downpours and wind gusts as strong as 75 mph to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. 

Numerous counties across Puerto Rico remain under flood flash warnings, with the storm bringing a maximum of 10 inches of rainfall across much of eastern Puerto Rico, while other regions were less impacted. Rainfall from Ernesto could start to affect Bermuda on Thursday. 

The hurricane could become a Category 3 storm by Friday, meaning it will have winds as strong as 129 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. 

Ernesto, the third hurricane of the Atlantic Hurricane season, is forecasted to stay offshore the U.S. East Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. However, the Center warns that people should still be wary of life-threatening surf and rip currents along East Coast beaches. On an annual basis, rip currents cause about 100 drowning fatalities.

Over the next few days, the hurricane will continue to travel north of the Caribbean, and will reach Bermuda by Friday or Saturday. The hurricane was moving at a speed of 16 mph as of Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service and was 175 miles northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

In the Virgin Islands, nearly 90% of people, or more than 45,000 customers were without power. In nearby Puerto Rico, LUMA Energy, which operates the island’s electricity, said half of their clients did not have power, per the latest update on Wednesday at 2:45 p.m. eastern time. 

One in four flights leaving Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport were canceled, and another 27% were delayed because of the hurricane, per FlightAware.