Hurricane Igor churned north on Monday on a track expected to take it near Newfoundland in easternmost Canada, after battering Bermuda with heavy winds, waves and rain that caused damage but no casualties. The Canadian Hurricane Centre issued a tropical storm watch for the coast of Newfoundland. North Atlantic Refining, operator of a 115,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery in Come-by-Chance, New-found-land, said it was keeping a close eye on Igor.
The US National Hurricane Centre said the core of the large Category 1 hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds near 75 miles per hour (120 kph), was about 275 miles (445 km) north-north-east of Bermuda, a popular resort and global insurance service hub, at 11 am EDT (1500 GMT).
Overnight, Bermuda experienced several hours of lashing wind, waves and rain. Residents of the British island territory reported uprooted trees, flying debris, widespread power outages, some flooding of streets and homes and boats torn from moorings. Bermuda has a population of more than 67,000 people.
Hurricane force winds extended about 90 miles (150 km) from the core of Igor. The US East Coast would experience rough surf and a stiff breeze, the Miami-based hurricane centre said. The hurricane was moving north-north-east at 24 miles per hour (39 kph). A turn north-east away from the US coast and an increase in forward speed were forecast in the next 24 hours.
"Igor will continue to be a large cyclone as it moves past Newfoundland toward Greenland," the hurricane centre said. East of Igor, Tropical Storm Julia was breaking up on Monday and posed no threat to land. In Mexico over the weekend, the remnants of Hurricane Karl dissipated over the mountains of south central Mexico, after killing at least eight people, emergency workers said. Karl apparently spared Mexican oil operations from major damage after sweeping through the Bay of Campeche, where Mexico produces more than two-thirds of its 2.55 million barrels per day of crude output.
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