Thursday Update: With a Category 1 intensity, Hurricane Ernesto veers towards Bermuda.

With a Category 1 intensity, Hurricane Ernesto veers towards Bermuda.

Tropical storm conditions were discontinued for Puerto Rico and its outlying islands of Vieques and Culebra, as well as for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands after the storm passed. “I know it was a powerful storm that caused flooding and power outages for almost half of all customers in the U.S. territory,” said Ernesto, who threatened to strengthen into a major hurricane while approaching Bermuda. As of early Thursday, the storm was over open water approximately 675 miles (1,085 kilometers) south-southwest of Bermuda.

At early Thursday, the storm was over open sea around 675 miles (1,085 kilometers) to the south-southwest of Bermuda, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph) and moving at 16 mph (26 kph) in a northwesterly direction.

Bermuda was under a hurricane watch, with the possibility of tropical storm conditions on Friday and hurricane conditions on Saturday. After the storm passed, tropical storm warnings were canceled for the United States, the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and its neighboring islands of Vieques and Culebra.

At a press conference, Governor Albert Bryan Jr. of the U.S. Virgin Islands remarked, “I know it was a long night listening to that wind howl.”

On St. Croix, there was a reported blackout that affected the whole island, and at least six cellular towers were down throughout the United States.

In the United States, Puerto Rico, the British Virgin Islands, and other regions where there was major flooding and officials had to close roadways that were partially covered in trees, schools and government offices were closed. There were more than 140 canceled flights to and from Puerto Rico.

In a phone interview, Culebra Mayor Edilberto Romero remarked, “A lot of rain, a lot of rain.” There are trees on public highways that have fallen. A few roofs have been blown off.”

Because of the ongoing rain, flash flood warnings were still in effect.

Dozens of inhabitants of the flood-prone north coastal hamlet of Toa Baja moved their cars to higher ground.

watched the rain fall. He only briefly celebrated that he had power. “It’s going to go out again,” he predicted.