Another powerful storm is churning through the Atlantic Ocean following the destructive Hurricane Matthew, which left months of recovery in its wake. That storm hit hardest in Haiti with 1,000 lives lost and a lingering fear of a cholera outbreak. The U.S. East Coast, particularly in North Carolina, saw intense flooding that left thousands of stranded residents on rooftops. Now, Hurricane Nicole makes landfall on Thursday in Bermuda. This video shows Nicole’s wind-filled “hello” to the island this morning as outer bands of clouds began to arrive. The storm’s distinctive eye has, at times, grown to 50 miles wide — larger than the entire island.
Just heard #HurricaneNicole was upgraded to Cat 4. I have to say this is gonna be one hell of an experience with @RobMasab #kindascary pic.twitter.com/O2L9KviCxV
— Samantha (@SammieMasab) October 13, 2016
Nicole strengthened into a Category 4 storm on Wednesday and downgraded to a Category 3 as it made landfall, although the effects are expected to be the same severity despite the downgrade. Indeed, this will be the strongest hurricane to impact the Atlantic archipelago in 13 years with flooding of 4-8 inches projected and an expected storm surge of up to 10 feet.
The storm’s current wind speeds ride at 120 mph, so the island shall experience an “extremely dangerous” Thursday. And although hurricanes often pass near or through Bermuda, it’s rare for a strong hurricane to impact the island. At one point, projections put the eye of the storm directly over Bermuda, but the storm wobbled and pushed the eye eastward. As a result, Fox News reports that the storm will now lash the island for a more sustained period of time than expected. The network quotes Bermuda Weather Service Deputy Director James Dodgson, who wished things were going differently: “We were hopeful that it would come across so we could at least get a break.”
Although the storm may impact Atlantic Canada this weekend, Nicole isn’t expected to threaten the U.S. East Coast, since it’s moving in a northeastern direction and will therefore churn back into the Atlantic after its stop in Bermuda (where satellite images have been terrifying).
#HurricaneNicole another explosive hurricane. Tropical storm to major category 4 in 36hrs. May hit #Bermuda harder than #Matthew hit Florida pic.twitter.com/kuZ7NOfJoE
— Mike Thomas (@MikeTFox5) October 13, 2016
(Via NOAA, Weather Channel, Accuweather, Fox News & Weather Network)
