Breaking News: People urged to prepare for Hurricane Bill today

Bermuda, Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Published: August 18. 2009


People are being urged to start preparing for Hurricane Bill today — and have everything in place by Friday morning.

The Emergency Measures Organisation (EMO) this afternoon convened a formal meeting to get an update on the storm’s progress.

Resulting from the information provided in the briefing, the EMO is advising the public to begin to prepare for the impending storm today, because Hurricane Bill is considered a potential treat to Bermuda.

Today’s meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Derrick Binns, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Home Affairs and Housing and Police Commissioner George Jackson.

Dr. Binns said: “Based on our briefing today, the EMO is taking this storm very seriously. Residents should as well. We have learned from experience that hurricanes can cause tremendous destruction.

“We have a level of certainty that Bill will come quite close to the Island, therefore, by Friday morning, we are urging members of the public to have their preparations complete.”

Meanwhile Bermuda Weather Service Director, Dr. Mark Guishard advised the group that as of 4 p.m. today the storm’s closest point of approach is expected to be on Saturday, roughly between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., when the storm will pass some 150 nautuical miles west of Bermuda.

Currently, Hurricane Bill is a strong category two hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 90 knots, gusting up to 110 knots.