Hurricane Ernesto reached maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour on Thursday evening as it moved toward Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean.

As of Thursday, the storm was located about 450 miles south-southwest of Bermuda, which in turn is about 650 miles east of the North Carolina coast.

The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning for Bermuda. The center of Ernesto is expected to pass near or directly over the island sometime on Saturday.

Further strengthening is forecast, so that Ernesto would almost reach Category 3 major hurricane status by the time it reaches the island.

On Saturday, Bermuda could see 15 to 30 centimeters of rain, and in some places as much as 38 centimeters. Meteorologists believe that life-threatening flash floods could occur.

According to meteorologists, the storm is not expected to make direct landfall in the United States.

Storm destroys power grids in Puerto Rico

Half of Puerto Rico woke up in the dark on Thursday. More than 325,000 homes were still without power as cleanup efforts began. Parts of the U.S. territory received up to 6 inches of rain and flash floods turned streams into raging rivers. There are also fears of landslides on the island.

In Puerto Rico, fifty water plants also failed.

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