ARCHIVED - TO BE UPDATED: Tropical Storm Fay Causes Minor to Serious Damage in Bermuda, downed trees and power lines, impassable roads etc
- Published in Soualiga
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CARIBBEAN – Tropical Storm Fay lashed Bermuda on Saturday night and early Sunday morning leaving residents without power and roads blocked with debris. The Bermuda Weather Service unofficially recorded sustained winds of 115 miles per hour and higher gusts.
Emergency services and construction crews have been cleaning up and restoring electricity throughout the island. The Ministry of National Security on Sunday reported that several roads remained impassable and the Acting Premier urged residents to remain at home to allow clean-up crews to carry on unobstructed with the removal of debris.
There are reports of some property damage, but a proper assessment still has to be carried out. The City of Hamilton was also battered by the tropical storm. Some buildings in the capital have sustained major damage.
Two cruise ships were forced to delay their arrival on Sunday. If weather conditions improve, and after an assessment of the berths and channels, the vessels may still dock.
The Terminal Building at LF Wade International Airport has reportedly experienced major flooding from the passing of the tropical storm. The airfield is open for emergency services, diversions and private jets. Flights to the island are on rolling delays. Outbounds passengers cannot leave due to the flooding of the Immigration and Customs Halls. The authorities are working diligently to resolve the issues and challenges at hand.
ARCHIVED: As of 11.00PM on Saturday, TS Fay is 95 miles south of Bermuda. Besides the weather impact from TS Fay on Bermuda, the storm has led to the cancellation of American Airlines Saturday evening flight out of New York JFK.
Winds have been picking up and weather conditions are expected to further deteriorate during the course of Saturday night. There has been no diversions with respect to cruise vessels. One cruise vessel, the Explorer of the Seas left at its scheduled time on Saturday. The Norwegian Dawn and Grandeur of the Seas are still scheduled to call at Port Bermuda on Sunday, however this is all dependent on weather conditions on Sunday morning.
ARCHIVED: Saturday - The Bermuda Weather Service has now issued a Hurricane Watch for the island which means hurricane conditions are possible within 12 hours. TS Fay at 5.00PM was located 195 miles south of the island. Wind speed is 70 miles per hour, but the system has picked up speed and is moving at 18 miles per hour towards the north. This motion is expected to continue into Saturday night.
ARCHIVED: Saturday - At 11.00AM TS Fay winds now at 70 miles per hour is close to hurricane strength. TS Fay is 305 miles south of Bermuda and continues to track north towards the island nation at 16 miles per hour. TS force winds extend outward from the center up to 150 miles.
ARCHIVED: At 8.00AM on Saturday morning TS Fay was approximately 365 miles south of the island of Bermuda. Weather conditions are forecasted to start deteriorating in Bermuda Saturday afternoon with an increase in winds across the islands. TS Fay has maximum winds of 60 miles per hour. The storm is moving at 12 miles per hour to the north.
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Bermuda. An increase in forward speed is expected today followed by a turn to the north east. On its current track TS Fay is expected to pass south east and east of Bermuda late Saturday and early Sunday. An Air Force Weather Recon Aircraft is currently investigating the system.
ARCHIVED: At 5.00pm on Friday, the NHC upgraded TD#7 to TS Fay after reconnaissance aircraft found that the sub-tropical system had strengthened. Wind speeds are 40 miles per hour and the system is moving north northwest at 12 miles per hour. TS Fay is 525 miles south of the island of Bermuda.
Additional strengthening is possible during the next 48 hours.
ARCHIVED: The Nathional Hurricane Center (NHC) has upgraded a Tropical Wave system to Sub-Tropical Depression (TD) #7 which is located north of the Leeward Islands in the Atlantic Ocean heading towards the island of Bermuda. TD#7 according to NHC is forecast to become Tropical Storm Fay later today, the seasons sixth storm.
Bermuda's Weather Service has already issued a Tropical Storm Watch. TD#7 is moving northwest at 10 miles per hour and highest winds are 35 miles per hour.
ARCHIVED: Weather Watchers have been reviewing the computer models that forecast inclement weather, and some models are developing the scenario that tropical storm development will take place between October 9th and 15th in the south western or western Caribbean Sea.
A Low Pressure (LP) system is expected to form north of Panama and some computer models have it developing into a Tropical Storm (TS) by October 14th. Should this happen, this will be the sixth storm of the season, and it would be named Fay.
If the LP develops according to the models into TS Fay, it would travel across the western Caribbean Sea into the Gulf of Mexico and then across the Florida Peninsula by October 17th/18th.
Weather watchers will continue to monitor the long range computer models for any potential development of this system.