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STORY: :: Hurricane Ernesto whips up waves

as it closes in on Bermuda's coast

:: August 16, 2024

:: The storm is expected to produce heavy

rainfall, flooding and tidal surges

Ernesto, centered about 180 miles (290 km) southwest of the archipelago at 2 p.m. Atlantic time (1 p.m. ET/1700 GMT), was packing sustained winds of up to 100 mph (160 kph) and had the potential to drop up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain.

It is likely to make landfall on Saturday (August 17) morning, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said, making conditions ripe for storm surges and flash flooding by the afternoon.

Ernesto was crawling at roughly 14 mph (22 kph) on a north-northeast trek, the NHC said, gradually weakening and slowing by Saturday before picking up speed and potentially regaining strength later on Sunday (August 18).

Bermuda, a collection of 181 small islands clustered more than 600 miles (965 km) off the Carolina coast, can expect hurricane conditions to persist until Sunday, NHC Director Michael Brennan reported.