Hurricane Gonzalo, a powerful category four storm, continued to slowly move toward the island of Bermuda Thursday evening.
Gonzalo has maximum sustained winds of 145 miles per hour and is moving to the north-northeast at nearly nine miles per hour. The storm didn’t gain any strength throughout Thursday afternoon. The storm’s eye was roughly 415 miles south-southwest of Bermuda.
Ahead of the expected arrival of Gonzalo, a hurricane warning is in effect for the entire island of Bermuda. The center of the storm will be nearing the island by Friday afternoon and night.
With the powerful hurricane nearing, the L.F. Wade International Airport said it will close for operations Thursday night at 9 p.m. Several airlines had brought in extra flights over the last 24 hours to take travels off the island nation.
The National Hurricane Center said Gonzalo could fluctuate in strength through Thursday night. Forecasters said the storm should experience some slow weakening on Friday, but will still be a powerful storm when it hits the island.
Forecasters said tropical storm conditions should begin impacting Bermuda by Friday morning. The NHC said a dangerous and life-threatening storm surge will produce significant coastal flooding and will be accompanied by large and destructive waves.
The island is still dealing with the fallout from Tropical Storm Fay as Gonzalo approaches. More than 1,000 homes remained without power and homeowners worked to repair damaged roofs. The government called out 200 soldiers of the Bermuda Regiment to help with cleanup efforts on the island of roughly 70,000 people.
Local
On Wednesday, people stripped the island's hardware stores of generators, batteries, candles and other items and picked up free tarpaulins distributed by the government.
