Ernesto strengthens into Category 2 hurricane

CHICAGO, Illinois — Hurricane Ernesto strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane on Thursday as it barreled toward Bermuda, threatening major damage over the weekend from powerful winds and heavy rain, after leaving hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans without power.

Ernesto is forecast to strengthen further before it reaches Bermuda late on Friday, a British island territory far out in the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center said.

"Additional strengthening is forecast during the next day or so, and Ernesto could be near major hurricane strength on Friday. Ernesto is forecast to be a large hurricane near Bermuda on Saturday," the hurricane center said.

A major hurricane is a Category 3, 4 or 5 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale and is capable of causing devastating or even catastrophic damage.

The storm could produce up to 38 centimeters of rain that could result in life-threatening flash flooding, the hurricane center said.

Only 11 storms have made direct landfall on Bermuda, an archipelago of 181 islands with a population of 64,000, since records began in 1851.

Ernesto became a hurricane on Wednesday after leaving Puerto Rico as a tropical storm, where it battered the island with heavy rainfall. Images and videos from the island showed floodwaters covering roadways, downed power lines and destroyed homes and vehicles.

As of Thursday afternoon, some 407,000 homes and businesses, about a quarter of all customers on the US territory, remained without electricity, according to LUMA Energy, the Caribbean island's main power supplier. LUMA said it had restored power to 300,000 customers.

Vanessa Toro, a San Juan resident who lost electricity early on Wednesday morning, said she was frustrated that she was still without power even though the storm itself had little impact on her area.

"If the event had been of a large magnitude, one understands the situation a little more, but this storm was not catastrophic," she said. "Then LUMA says it is prepared to deal with these situations, but we are without power 29 hours after the storm."

LUMA Chief Executive Juan Saca said in a radio interview on Thursday morning that he expected power to be restored to many customers later on Thursday.

Agencies via Xinhua