HAMILTON, BERMUDA — Bertha weakened to a tropical storm Sunday but could still deal a glancing blow to this British territory in the Atlantic, forecasters said.
Bertha’s outer bands were expected to brush the island in the coming days. Several business owners expected to send workers home by noon Monday as a preventive measure, while residents began taping windows and securing boats.
“Bermudians are pretty used to this,” said local resident Ruth O’Kelly-Lynch, 25. “We’ve been through this several times, so everyone’s relaxed but prepared.” The storm is already being blamed for the drowning deaths of two swimmers and the disappearance of a third off the New Jersey coast, where the U.S. National Weather Service said Bertha kicked up tricky surf.
The slow-moving, meandering Bertha was expected to start moving northwest about 2 mph by Sunday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The center’s projections show Bertha sideswiping Bermuda on Monday, a day later than earlier forecasts, and dumping 2 to 4 inches of rain.
Over the weekend, most tourists avoided the storm-whipped surf and rip currents along Bermuda’s southern coast. Authorities posted signs announcing beach closures.
By late Sunday afternoon, the storm’s maximum sustained winds had decreased to near 65 mph. Bertha was centered about 175 miles southeast of Bermuda.
Bermuda native Mikaela Ian Pearman, 22, who lives on the island’s eastern end, worried that the causeway that links her to the main island will close, preventing her from reaching the capital if she gives birth on her due date next Saturday.
“It scares me because of the fact that ‘I don’t do pain,’ ” she said, adding that she might stay with someone in Hamilton so she doesn’t get trapped.
Bertha became the Atlantic season’s first hurricane on July 7.
In the Pacific, Tropical Storm Elida swirled about 245 miles southwest of Acapulco, Mexico, on Sunday, and was headed farther out to sea. The hurricane center said Elida had sustained winds of nearly 65 mph and was traveling northwest at 14 mph.
Large swells and high surf could reach Mexico’s southwestern coast in coming days, the center said.
