Ernesto has been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm after hitting Bermuda with heavy winds and storms. The storm reached Bermuda early Saturday morning as a Category 1 storm and moved steadily north after weakening over land. It had previously pummeled Puerto Rico with heavy downpours and wind gusts that heavily impacted the island’s power.
The storm is set to pass near Newfoundland—of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador—on Monday evening, which could bring coastal flooding and is expected to bring strong winds and rain.
Ernesto was the third hurricane of the Atlantic hurricane season. And while the storm is now forecast to stay offshore the U.S. East Coast throughout the next few days, it has caused surf and rip currents along East Coast beaches. In North Carolina’s barrier island, an unoccupied beach house collapsed into the water on Friday. Further north, the New York City Parks Department announced that all beaches in Brooklyn, Queens, and Jacob Riis Beach would be closed to swimming over the weekend, citing National Weather Service predictions of a dangerous rip current threat and ocean swells.
Dangerous currents could also be present on the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, and Atlantic Canada over the next few days, per the National Hurricane Center. On an annual basis, rip currents cause about 100 drowning fatalities in the U.S.
Read More: What Do Hurricane Categories Actually Mean?
Ernesto currently has maximum sustained winds of about 70 m.p.h., though it could intensify.
Bermuda officials closed the airport and paused public transportation ahead of Friday night in preparation for the storm.
The storm is moving at a speed of 16 m.p.h as of Sunday morning, per the National Hurricane Center, and its speed is set to increase.
In Puerto Rico, LUMA Energy, which operates the island’s electricity, 10% of their clients still did not have power on Saturday afternoon. Electricity was also affected in the Virgin Islands, where there were pockets of outages. The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority is still working to return electricity to all residents.
With reporting by Solcyré Burga, Anna Gordon, and Rebecca Schneid
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