Bermuda lashed by Humberto’s wind; Lorena nears Pacific coast of Mexico

Powerful winds from Hurricane Humberto hit Bermuda on Wednesday as the government urged people to stay off the streets during the British territory’s close brush with the Category 3 storm. And another growing storm threatened tourist resorts along Mexico’s Pacific coast.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said hurricane-force winds began to hit the island of 70,000 people by late afternoon and would last into early Thursday.

James Dodgson, director of the Bermuda Weather Service, said the storm was projected to pass about 80 miles to the north of Bermuda during the night and could produce tornadoes and dangerous storm surge.

“Humberto’s a big hurricane, and we’re looking at the conditions already deteriorating. There’s some very strong winds kicking in,” he said.

National Security Minister Wayne Caines said non-emergency medical services would be closed until Thursday. Evening flights from the U.S. and Great Britain were canceled.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Lorena posed an increasing threat to tourist resorts on Mexico’s Pacific coast and the Baja California Peninsula.

Forecasters said Lorena was expected to “pass very close” to the coast between the port of Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta on Wednesday night and Thursday. It reached hurricane force late Wednesday. The long-term forecast showed it approaching the Los Cabos resorts by Saturday. Maximum sustained winds were 70 mph late Wednesday, with higher gusts. It was centered about 35 miles south of Manzanillo and was moving northwest at 12 mph.

Hurricane warnings were in effect from Punta San Telmo to Cabo Corrientes.

Heavy rains were spreading onshore along the coast, the Hurricane Center said. Mexican officials voiced concern that some parts of southern Mexico, which have seen a lack of rainfall, could now get torrential rains and floods from the combined effects of Lorena and two other weather systems.

In parts of Colima, Jalisco and Michoacan states, “it is forecast that the total accumulations of rain could ... represent 40% of the rain for an entire year in that part of the country,” said Blanca Jiménez Cisneros, director-general of Mexico’s National Water Commission.

In Texas, the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda had drenched parts of southeast Texas with more than 12 inches of rain, but officials in the Houston area said there had been no severe problems. It was the first named storm to hit that area since Hurricane Harvey’s much heavier rains flooded more than 150,000 homes around the city and caused an estimated $125 billion damage in Texas.

Tropical Storm Jerry also formed Wednesday morning far out in the Atlantic and was forecast to become a hurricane as it nears the outermost Caribbean islands Thursday or Friday.