Miami, Aug 14 (EFE).- Ernesto, which became a Category 1 hurricane north of Puerto Rico on Wednesday, intensified in recent hours as its maximum sustained winds rose to 130 kilometers per hour on their way to the Bermuda, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported.
Ernesto, The storm that left severe flooding and widespread power outages due to its heavy rains, is located 290 kilometers (180 miles) east-northeast of the Grand Turk Island (in the Turks and Caicos Islands) and 1,160 kilometers south-southwest of Bermuda.
It is moving northwest at 16 mph (26 km/h), and the center of the system is projected to pass near Bermuda on Saturday.
He NHC The US Department of Defense stressed in its 20:00 local time (00:00 GMT) bulletin that hurricane alerts remain in effect for Bermuda and that the system is expected to strengthen in the next 48 hours, so Ernesto “It could become a major hurricane” next Friday.
This is the third hurricane of the Atlantic basin hurricane season, which began on June 1 and has produced five tropical storms: Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby and Ernesto.
Of these, Beryl, Debby and Ernesto strengthened to hurricane status. Beryl even reached the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale, number five, causing destruction and death in the Caribbean and the United States.
This Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be one of the most active and intense in decades, with up to 25 storms and 13 hurricanes forming.
