By DÁNICA COTO, The Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Ernesto strengthened into a hurricane on Wednesday as it dropped torrential rain on Puerto Rico and left nearly half of all clients in the U.S. territory without power as it threatened to become a major storm en route to Bermuda.
The storm was located about 175 miles northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico and was moving over open waters. It had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and was moving northwest at 16 mph (26 kph). “The official forecast still reflects the possibility of Ernesto becoming a major hurricane in about 48 hours,” the National Hurricane Center said late Wednesday morning.
A surfer prepares to enter the water before Tropical Storm Ernesto goes by at La Pared beach in Luquillo, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo) AP A tropical storm warning was in effect for Puerto Rico and its outlying islands of Vieques and Culebra and for the U.
S. and British Virgin Islands. “I know it was a long night listening to that wind howl,” U.
S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.
said in a news conference. An island-wide blackout was reported in St. John and St.
Croix, and at least six cell phone towers were knocked offline across the U.S. territory, said Daryl Jaschen, emergency management director.
He added that the airports in St. Croix and St. Thomas were expected to reopen at midday.
Schools and government agencies remained closed in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Ri.