Bermuda lashed by distant hurricane and prepares for the stronger Imelda

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The outer bands of distant Hurricane Humberto lashed Bermuda on Tuesday ahead of a more direct pass from the newer and stronger Hurricane Imelda on the tiny British territory.

Humberto was passing well north of the island in the north Atlantic, but wind gusts and some rain were forecast into Wednesday.

Imelda had maximum sustained winds of 140 kph (85 mph) late Tuesday and its center was expected to be near the island Wednesday evening, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

A hurricane warning for Bermuda was in effect ahead of Imelda, which was expected to strengthen into a Category 2 hurricane, according to the Bermuda Weather Service.

“I cannot overstate the seriousness of this threat,” Michael Weeks, Bermuda’s minister of national security, said of Imelda. “This is not, I must stress, a passing squall.”

He said Bermuda would endure sustained hurricane-force winds for up to six hours starting late Wednesday.

The island’s international airport, schools and government offices were to close Wednesday, and Weeks said residents should have all storm preparations completed by noon.

“Imelda has the potential to damage and disrupt our island significantly,” he said.

Bermuda is a wealthy British territory with strong concrete structures capable of withstanding serious storms.

Imelda was 835 kilometers (520 miles) west-southwest of Bermuda and was moving east-northeast at 28 kph (17 mph), U.S. forecasters said. The storm is expected to bring hurricane-force winds to Bermuda late Wednesday, they added.

Far northwest of the island, Humberto was still hurricane strength with 130 kph (80 mph) winds late Tuesday. The Category 1 storm was moving east-northeast at 17 kph (10 mph).

Both hurricanes were creating ocean swells that were likely to cause dangerous surf conditions on Bermuda, the Bahamas and the U.S. East Coast. Five unoccupied houses along North Carolina’s Outer Banks collapsed into the ocean Tuesday as wave after wave rolled in from the Atlantic.

Earlier this week, Imelda battered eastern Cuba, killing two people, according to Prime Minister Manuel Marrero. Flooding and landslides also cut off communities and forced evacuations, according to state media.

One person was also missing in Haiti after Imelda swelled rivers and caused flooding in some 35 communities, its Civil Protection Agency said. Imelda also caused significant crop destruction in a country where more than half of its nearly 12 million inhabitants were expected to experience severe hunger through the first half of the year.

Imelda also flooded parts of the Bahamas on Monday, with New Providence hit hard. More than a dozen public schools on that island and on nearby Grand Bahama and Abaco remained closed on Tuesday.

“The aftermath is serious,” Prime Minister Philip Davis said. “Floodwaters remain.”

Imelda, which reached hurricane strength earlier Tuesday, is the Atlantic season's fourth hurricane this year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted an above-normal season with 13 to 18 named storms. Of those, five to nine were forecast to become hurricanes, including two to five major hurricanes, which pack winds of 111 mph or greater.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.