Hurricane Gonzalo Slams Bermuda, Damages Hospital

Hurricane Gonzalo crushed trees, flattened power lines and damaged Bermuda's main hospital during an hours-long battering - the second time the tiny British territory has been slammed by a powerful storm in less than a week.

The storm's center crossed over Bermuda Friday night and its winds and heavy surf continued to whip at the island early Saturday as Gonzalo quickly moved northward over the Atlantic on a track that could take it just off the shore of Newfoundland in Canada.

Bermuda Gov. George Fergusson tweeted that police have reported no deaths or serious injuries and that damage has been extensive but not catastrophic.

The hospital, which suffered a damaged roof, was still operating, and bulldozers were clearing trees from roads as crews worked to restore power to some 28,000 homes. The island was still recovering from last weekend's blast from Tropical Storm Fay, which also damaged homes and toppled power lines.

"To be struck twice by two different cyclones is unusual, to say the least," said Max Mayfield, a former director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Police Commissioner Michael DeSilva said many roads in Bermuda were impassible. He urged people to stay home and said on the island's Emergency Broadcast Station that motorists would be turned back.

"Unless it's a life or death emergency - checking on your boat is not an emergency - we won't let you pass," he said.

Gonzalo approached Bermuda as a Category 3 storm then weakened to Category 2 strength just before coming ashore with sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph).

Part of the roof at Bermuda's main hospital was damaged and there was water damage in the new intensive care unit, police spokesman Dwayne Caines reported. A causeway that links the eastern end of Bermuda to the main part of the island remained closed as the government awaited an inspection by structural engineers.

Some Bermudians woke up to toppled concrete walls, uprooted palm trees and boats run aground. The Royal Gazette newspaper reported that part of the roof of the island's legislature, the House of Assembly, was ripped off.

Flooding was the main concern on Bermuda, which has one of the highest per-capita incomes in the world and is known for strict building codes meant to ensure homes can withstand sustained winds of at least 110 mph (177 kph).

The last major hurricane to strike Bermuda was Fabian in September 2003. That Category 3 storm killed four people and caused more than $100 million in damage.

Marlie Powell, the owner of Kingston House Bed & Breakfast, said in a phone interview that Gonzalo hit as she was still recovering from Tropical Storm Fay, which toppled two large trees on her property.

"We only had very few days to clean and get the trees out of our house," she said. "There's a lot of loose debris around the island already, which is not good."

A 436-foot (133-meter) frigate of Britain's Royal Navy with a crew of some 180 sailors was expected to arrive Sunday in Bermuda to help with post-storm recovery efforts.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Gonzalo weakened as it moved away from Bermuda on a track that would take it past Newfoundland and then across the Atlantic to Britain and Ireland.

Canadian Hurricane Center officials said the storm isn't expected to be a hurricane as it nears Canadian waters, but there was 30 percent chance it would make landfall as a post-tropical storm overnight Saturday. Officials said there could be some flooding if it arrives at high tide early Sunday.

Across the Atlantic, Britain's Met Office issued an alert for strong winds and heavy rain expected Tuesday from the remains of Gonzalo. It warned of the potential for significant disruption of travel and difficult driving conditions.

Early Saturday, Gonzalo was located 270 miles (435 kilometers) north-northeast of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (160 kph) as it traveled north-northeast at 22 mph (35 kph).

Gonzalo swept by the eastern Caribbean earlier this week, claiming one life in the Dutch territory of St. Maarten. The hurricane center said the storm was generating large swells that could cause dangerous surf on portions of the U.S. southeast coast and those conditions would spread northward along the East Coast during Saturday.

In the Pacific, Hurricane Ana was carving a path south of Hawaii early Saturday, producing high waves, strong winds and heavy rains that prompted a flood advisory. The center of the storm was about 170 miles (274 kilometers) southwest of the Big Island as it passed early Saturday morning and about 225 miles  (362 kilometers) from Honolulu, the National Weather Service said.

There was little chance for hurricane conditions on the islands, but a tropical storm watch remained in effect throughout the archipelago and winds were expected to reach nearly 40 mph, forecasters said. It had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph.

Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

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