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Conditions are slowly starting to improve in Bermuda after the island was lashed by powerful winds, heavy rain, and massive waves as Hurricane Imelda passed by late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.
The center of Hurricane Imelda came extremely close to Bermuda but didn’t make landfall.
Instead, the hurricane passed just to the south of the island.
Despite that, impacts from the hurricane brought down some trees and power lines, and waves kicked up by the storm were seen rushing inland.
Now that Hurricane Imelda continues to race away from the island, damage assessments are being conducted.
“Assessment crews, including BELCO teams and the Royal Bermuda Regiment, are now moving across the island to check for damage and begin restoration,” government officials said in a Facebook post. “The public is urged to remain sheltered and stay off the roads so that these works can be carried out safely and efficiently.”
Hurricane Imelda is now barely hanging onto hurricane strength as it continues to move farther away from Bermuda, where a Tropical Storm Warning is now in effect.
Hurricane Imelda has winds of 80 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane after it briefly reached Category 2 strength on its approach to Bermuda on Wednesday.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Hurricane Imelda should continue to weaken and will likely become extratropical later Thursday.
Tropical storm conditions are expected to continue across Bermuda for the next few hours before conditions improve later in the day.
Lingering showers across Bermuda could dump another inch or so of rain on the island, and storm-surge flooding should also subside on Thursday.
However, massive waves kicked up by Hurricane Imelda, as well as former Hurricane Humberto, will continue to impact Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the U.S. East Coast.
The swells should also impact the Greater Antilles and northern Leeward Islands on Friday and continue through the weekend.
That will increase the risk of dangerous surf and deadly rip currents at local beaches.
A Hurricane Hunter captured video of winds creating a streaking effect on the waves before the hurricane impacted Bermuda during the overnight hours.
Seas in the northern Atlantic were expected to reach between 20 and 30 feet near the core of the storm.
Storm turns deadly along US shores
And while the storm didn’t make landfall in the U.S., the effects of Hurricane Imelda have been felt up and down the East Coast from the Southeast through the mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast and New England.
According to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, a 51-year-old man from “out of state” drowned after he was pulled out into the Atlantic Ocean by a rip current and couldn’t make it back to shore.
Rip currents have been a major concern this week due to Hurricane Imelda, as well as former Hurricane Humberto spinning in the Atlantic.
Both storms have been kicking up massive waves, leading to rip currents at beaches along the East Coast.
In Cuba, a 60-year-old man in Santiago died after torrential rain led to a landslide, causing the man’s home to collapse while he slept, according to local media and first responders.
On Tuesday, crashing waves led to the collapse of at least seven homes along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. FOX Weather has confirmed all homes were unoccupied.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore officials urged seashore visitors to stay away from the collapsed house sites in Buxton and to use caution for miles to the south of the sites, due to the presence of potentially hazardous debris.
It’s been a busy few weeks in the Atlantic with Hurricane Gabrielle first, followed by Hurricane Humberto and then Hurricane Imelda.
The Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1 and runs through Nov. 30.
