National Hurricane Center/NOAA(MIAMI) — The “extremely dangerous” Hurricane Nicole closed in on Bermuda Thursday morning, leaving thousands without power and bringing strong winds and storm surge flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The Bermuda Electric Light Company (BELCO), the only electricity company in Bermuda, told ABC News that around 90 percent of customers in Bermuda don’t have power. BELCO added that it is still assessing the full impact of the storm.
Nicole weakened to a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph earlier Thursday. At 11 a.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center said the eye of the storm was passing over Bermuda.
A station on Pearl Island reported sustained winds of 87 mph and wind gusts of up to 120 mph.
The brunt of Nicole passed through the North Atlantic island Thursday morning and by the afternoon the eye of Nicole was slowly moving away from Bermuda, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Nicole continues to weaken as the storm system heads out to sea. Swells and large waves are still expected to affect Bermuda in the coming days.
As of 2 p.m. Thursday, Nicole was located 90 miles northeast of Bermuda and was moving northeast at 18 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
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