Orkaan Igor op ramkoers met Bermuda

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Power outages from Hurricane Igor's forecast winds could isolate Bermuda for days in the wake of the looming powerful storm.
Hurricane Igor could be another Hurricane Fabian in the making for Bermuda, given the forecast track and strength of the system looming in the Atlantic.
During September 2003, Category 3 Hurricane Fabian struck Bermuda with 120-mph sustained winds, gusts of 164 mph, and monstrous seas of over 30 feet. Four people died in Bermuda as a result of Fabian.
However, while Igor moved swiftly through Bermuda, Igor may travel much more slowly. As a result, AccuWeather.com Hurricane Expert Joe Bastardi is concerned the islands may be in for a "several-day siege of damaging winds and waves."
Assuming Igor continues on its forecast path taking it well within 50 miles of the islands, the nation may be slammed with a Category 2 or 3 hurricane, causing power outages, shipwrecks, property damage, and beach erosion.
While many structures on the islands are small fortresses, made of stone with foundations into bedrock, and will weather the hurricane much better than structures built on the barrier islands of the U.S., lives will be in peril, and the damage may be significant.

Bastardi is concerned the islands may be cut off for a time in the worst-case scenario, without electricity for refrigeration and fresh water for days.
The effects from the large hurricane will progressively worsen in Bermuda waters throughout the weekend, even though the center of Igor may not pass until late Sunday or early Monday.
Igor was experiencing some shear and perhaps eye wall replacement Thursday morning, but maintained steady Category 4 status as of 8:00 a.m. EDT.
However, as Igor continues on a path to the northwest, then north, shear will increase and waters will become progressively cooler, leading to some weakening of the system this weekend and beyond.
How quickly this happens and the exact path of Igor will determine the effects on Bermuda.
Even so, because Igor is such a large hurricane, even a miss by more than 50 miles could still mean damaging winds, and dangerous seas and surf in the region for days.

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Elbow Beach, Bermuda (CNN) -- Bermuda was cleaning up and drying out Monday after taking a beating from Hurricane Igor, although the island appeared to be unscathed as far as serious damage.

Meanwhile, Igor was heading north and losing its tropical characteristics, becoming a northern Atlantic storm, said CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano. It's projected to stay off the U.S. coast, but is forecast to near the tip of Newfoundland, Canada, on Monday. A tropical storm watch was issued ahead of Igor's arrival.

However, Bermuda was not out of the woods yet. As of early Monday, tropical storm conditions were still being experienced on the island, and a tropical storm warning remained in effect.

The center of Igor reached its closest point to Bermuda -- about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of the island -- late Sunday night. As it neared Bermuda, its eye wall collapsed, weakening it slightly, CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf said.

Winds gusts to 93 mph (149 kph) on the tiny Atlantic island as Igor raged. Because Bermuda -- which is actually a collection of islands -- is so small, "they don't get direct hits very often," Marciano said, "and they got hit pretty hard last night." In addition, Igor is a large storm, with hurricane-force winds extending up to 90 miles (150 kilometers) from the center and tropical storm-force winds extending outward up to 345 miles (555 kilometers) outward.

As day dawned, however, many on Bermuda felt they had dodged a bullet, despite widespread power outages -- at one point, it was estimated that two-thirds of the island's 67,000 residents were without electricity -- some flooding in low-lying areas, downed trees and branches and closed roads. Some lacking power may not have it restored for weeks, Wolf said.

The storm's northeast quadrant -- typically where the highest winds and rain are experienced -- took aim at the southern part of the island, where several resorts are located. Wolf said he had spoken to the property manager at Elbow Beach, and the manager said that despite losing about 70 percent of the beach to erosion, "they came out just fine, all things considered."

As of 8 a.m. ET, Igor's center was about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Bermuda and about 975 miles (1,565 kilometers) southwest of Cape Race, Newfoundland. The storm, packing maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), was moving north-northeast at about 21 mph (33 kph), according to the Miami, Florida-based National Hurricane Center. It was expected to turn northeast and speed up in the next day or so.

"On the forecast track, Igor will continue moving away from Bermuda and pass offshore of the southeastern tip of Newfoundland on Tuesday," forecasters said.

A tropical storm watch has been issued for the coast of Newfoundland from Stone's Cove to Jones Harbour, forecasters said. A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area within 48 hours.

Tropical storm conditions were expected to continue in Bermuda on Monday, though the winds will gradually diminish later in the day, the Hurricane Center said. However, it said "significant" rainfall associated with Igor had ended.

The Hurricane Center did not offer an estimate for the storm surge associated with Igor, but said Monday morning it could still produce "significant coastal flooding" on Bermuda and will be accompanied by "large and destructive waves," particularly on the southern coast.

CNN iReporters sent in video of huge surf pounding the beach in southern Bermuda.

Meanwhile, large swells are expected to continue affecting the East Coast of the United States through Tuesday and could cause "life-threatening surf and rip currents," the Hurricane Center said. Swells associated with Igor are expected to subside over the next couple of days in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Hispaniola and portions of the Bahamas.

Tropical Storm Julia continued churning in the Atlantic, but posed no threat to land, forecasters said. As of 5 a.m., the center of Julia was about 1,165 miles (1,880 kilometers) west of the Azores Islands. Julia had maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph and was moving east-northeast at about 9 mph (15 kph). Julia is expected to weaken further and dissipate in the next couple of days, forecasters said.

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