Hurricane Ernesto hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday, leaving nearly half of all homes and businesses on the Caribbean island without power. It threatened to strengthen into a major hurricane on its way to Bermuda.

More than 725,000 homes and businesses in the U.S. territory were without power, out of a total of about 1.5 million users, according to LUMA Energy, the island’s largest energy provider.

By early Thursday, the storm was over open water about 675 miles (1,085 kilometers) south-southwest of Bermuda, with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (140 km/h) and a northwesterly wind speed of 16 mph (26 km/h).

Warnings for beaches on the east coast of the USA

“Hurricane levels are possible in Bermuda on Saturday,” the National Hurricane Center posted on social media. “The risk of life-threatening surf and rip current conditions is expected to increase on U.S. East Coast beaches this weekend.”

Regarding the threat to the U.S. East Coast, Robbie Berg, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center, said: “Anyone who goes to the beach can be dangerous because of these surf rip currents, even if the weather is nice and pleasant.”

Meanwhile, tropical storm warnings have been lifted for Puerto Rico and the offshore islands of Culebra and Vieques, as well as for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

“I know it’s been a long night listening to the howling wind,” U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan Jr. told reporters.

Bermuda prepares itself

Ernesto, a Category 1 hurricane, gradually strengthened and could be classified as a Category 3 hurricane by Friday.

“Residents must prepare now before the situation worsens,” said Bermuda’s Security Minister Michael Weeks. “Now is not the time for complacency.”

jsi/rm (AP, Reuters)