As Hurricane Lee draws near to Bermuda, residents are urged to closely monitor the trajectory of the powerful storm that is expected to pass west of the island on Friday.
EMO evaluates the potential impact
The Emergency Measures Organisation (EMO) convened to deliberate the potential ramifications of the hurricane, currently situated 575 miles to the south of Bermuda, a British Overseas Territory.
The EMO has forewarned the local populace to brace themselves for a variety of weather disturbances between Thursday and Friday.
These disturbances encompass sustained tropical-storm-force winds with gusts, hazardous surf conditions, swells, rip currents, turbulent seas, heavy showers, and thunderstorms.
Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the acting Minister of National Security, issued a stern warning: “We urge the public to remain vigilant and take proactive measures to prepare their homes and properties. Residents should have used this past weekend to prepare and secure their homes. If you have not done so, then now is the time to complete those preparations so that you are ready for Hurricane Lee.”
Read more on Bermuda and the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season
National Hurricane Center’s advisory
In a recent dispatch, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center described Hurricane Lee as a “large and powerful Hurricane,” boasting a formidable maximum sustained wind speed of 115 mph.
The advisory noted the necessity for entities in Bermuda to be acutely observant of Lee’s course, hinting at the possible issuance of hurricane watches for Bermuda in the imminent future.
The hurricane center further elucidated that Lee is currently on a west-northwest trajectory at approximately seven mph.
Over the upcoming days, the storm is projected to gradually shift northwards. “On the forecast track, Lee is expected to pass near but to the west of Bermuda in a few days,” the center highlighted, while also categorizing Hurricane Lee as a Category 3 storm.
It further shared that while gradual weakening is forecast during the next few days, Lee is a large hurricane and that swells generated by the storm are impacting regions of the Lesser Antilles, the British and US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, and Bermuda.
The center cautioned, “These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.”
