No Bermuda fatalities reported from Gonzalo

HAMILTON, Bermuda — Hurricane Gonzalo crushed trees, flattened power lines and damaged Bermuda’s main hospital during an hours-long battering, but the tiny, wealthy British territory suffered no deaths.

The storm’s center crossed over Bermuda on Friday night and Gonzalo quickly moved northward over the Atlantic on a track that could take it just off the shore of Newfoundland in Canada.

“This was a dangerous hurricane, but Bermuda today is dealing with property damage, blocked roads and a loss of electricity — all things that can be replaced and restored,” said Premier Michael Dunkley. “Thankfully, there has been no loss of life.”

He said the U.S., the United Kingdom and others have offered assistance.

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 24,000 homes.

Police Commissioner Michael DeSilva said many roads were impassable and urged people to stay home, warning 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 going ashore with sustained winds of 110 mph.

Some Bermudans woke up to toppled concrete walls, uprooted palm trees and boats run aground. The Royal Ga

zette 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.

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.

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.

A frigate of Britain’s Royal Navy with a crew of some 180 sailors was expected to arrive today 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.