Live Blog/Six Video Feeds: Tropical Storm Leslie

[Updating. The worst is over, with no major storm related incidents. The 6pm update from the NHC said Leslie is now 175 miles to our east north-east and continues to move away from us at 14mph. Tropical storm force winds in Bermuda should end sometime this evening according to the NHC.

The Causeway remains open, and BELCO said just over 800 customers in total across the island have lost power, however BELCO crews are out working and only 76 remain out as of 6pm. The airport closed until 4pm, all flights but BA are cancelled and buses & ferries are not running.

We live streamed from Hamilton Harbour, the Causeway, Pembroke, Paget, Somerset, Spanish Point, Bakery Lane, North Shore waters, the stream concluded at 3pm ]

In their 6am update the BWS said Tropical Storm Leslie’s closest point of approach to Bermuda is forecast to be 126 nm to the east at 12 pm today [Sept 9]. This is slightly closer than the 142 nm predicted yesterday.

The latest Tropical Storm Leslie videos are below, click to view

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In their 5am update today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Leslie is 170 miles south-east of Bermuda, and moving towards the north at 9mph with maximum sustained winds are near 65mph [100km/h].

“A wind gust to 45mph [72km/h] was recently reported at an automated weather observing station on St. Davids Island Bermuda,” the NHC said. “Some strengthening is possible during the next 48 hours and Leslie could regain hurricane status during the next day or so.”

Winds are clearly higher than normal and rain is falling over parts of the island. We will update as the day progresses. The live stream below will change locations between Pembroke, Paget, Spanish Point, Hamilton Harbour, North Shore and more.

The latest updates will be posted on top, press “F5″ key to refresh

Update Sept 10, 7.45am: BELCO said: “Power to all residential customers was restored by approximately 2:30am. Work has started today to restore power to the previously mentioned commercial customers.”

Update 9.58pm: The City of Hamilton confirmed that all City services will return to normal on Monday

Update 9.50pm: A statement issued said: “The Oleander will be at sea buoy 8.30 Monday morning. Bermuda Pilots will be surveying the channel first thing in the morning to make sure it is safe for her arrival. Provided all is well, we expect to be alongside with discharge to start around 1030/1100. Please contact our offices should you have any questions or concerns.”

Update 9.42pm: Bermuda College will resume its normal class schedule and business operations on Monday [Sept 10]

Update 9.33pm: A statement from MSA said: “At the end of last week it was decided that MSA would be closed on Monday in order to clean up from the aftermath of the “Hurricane” Leslie. Due to the decrease in the severity of Tropical Storm Leslie over the weekend, it is anticipated that many parents will be returning to work as normal on Monday. Therefore, the school will be open on Monday should parents wish to have their child/children attend. Teachers will be in as normal and will work with those students in attendance. Regular scheduled classes will resume on Tuesday.”

Update 8.55pm: Unofficial sources indicate that buses are actually not running tonight.

Update 8.50pm: BELCO said: “Crews continue to work to restore power to all customers tonight. Expectation is that repairs can be completed tonight with the exception of two commercial customers with underground cable faults. These customers are aware that repairs will continue tomorrow, as location and excavation will be required before repairs can be made.”

Update 7.59pm: Flying in under windy conditions, the British Airways flight landed safely in Bermuda at approximately 7.15pm.

Update 7.27pm: BELCO said there are currently 239 customers without electricity, and crews are working to make repairs. 213 customers off around Lovers Lane/Grape Bay Drive/Tankfield Lane area who should be repaired shortly, still 17 customers off in Lighthouse Rd/Mariposa Drive, and crews are working on the repairs, and 9 scattered, smaller calls

Update 6.50pm: The Emergency Measures Organisation provided an update on Tropical Storm Leslie at 6.30pm this evening [Sept 9], saying the Causeway remains open, Government offices will open on Monday, the airport resumed operations at 6pm and ferry service will be suspended on Monday while the fleet and docks are inspected. Read the full statement here, and a summary below.

• The Ministry of Public Works has inspected roads and report no issues.
• The Causeway remains open
• Buses are running starting at 5.30pm today
• Motorists are asked to to report any debris or obstructions to 295 0011.
• Government offices will be open on Monday morning.
• Schools will open for principals and teachers on Monday and students will return on Tuesday
• The Education Ministry said the school days lost will be made up later in the school year.
• The CedarBridge Emergency shelter remained ready, but was not required.
• Following a brief closure the airport resumed operations at 6pm this evening
• British Airways expected to land at 7.12pm and depart at 9pm
• Buses will be operating this evening at 5.30pm
• Ferries will be suspended on Monday while the fleet and docks are inspected
• Update on ferry service to be give by noon tomorrow
• The cruise ship Norweigan Star delayed their arrival in Bermuda, expected to arrive Tuesday

Update 6.20pm: Capital G Bank will resume business operations tomorrow at 8.30am, and Gibbons Company will resume business at 9.30am

Update 6.09pm: The 6pm update from the NHC said Leslie is now 175 miles to our east north-east and continues to move away from us at 14mph. Tropical storm force winds in Bermuda should end sometime this evening, the NHC said. The BWS said “Winds will slowly begin to decrease early this evening as Leslie accelerates north-northeast and strengthens. Hazardous surf and rip currents continue into Monday.” The latest graph from the BWS is below.

Update 5.57pm: BELCO said that at this time 76 customers remain without power. Leslie knocked out over 800 customers across the island, however BELCO crews worked through the storm restoring power.

Update 5.25pm: 452 customers the North Shore/Inghams Drive/Berkeley Road areas had their power restored at approximately 4pm.

Update 4.48pm: Leslie continues to move away from us, and is now making its way to Newfoundland, Canada. The NHC said Leslie is “expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 2 to 4 inches on Bermuda.”

Update 4.35pm: Police Spokesman Dwayne Caines confirms the worst of Leslie is behind us, and there are no major storm related incidents to report. Video below.

Update 4.16pm: A quick video from Astwood Park courtesy of Bermemes.

Update 3.57pm: BELCO said there are currently approximately 650 customers without power, and crews are out working. Locations of outages include Spring Benny, Lighthouse Road / Mariposa Drive, Middle Rd Warwick, along North Shore between Inghams Drive and Berkeley Road, around Rosemont / Between the Walls, and Newman Lane / Seagull Lane

Update 3.22pm: The weather conditions are improving, and the winds are diminishing – although still very strong in some areas. To report an electrical outage please call BELCO on 955

Update 2.52pm: Our eight hours of streaming is over and we have removed it. Thanks for watching. A video of Devonshire Dock taken at 2.20pm today is below

Update 2.49pm: Pickled Onion, Hog Penny and Barracuda Grill are all open as normal this evening, Sunday September 9th. Pickled Onion is also open through the afternoon as usual.

Update 2.23pm: A few photos are below

Update 2.21pm: BELCO said just over 800 customers in total across the island have lost power due to Leslie, however BELCO crews are out working and many customers have been restored leaving only 190 without power as of 2.15pm

Update 1.31pm: Police Spokesperson Dwayne Caines is just about to patch into our live stream and give an official update….

Update 12.58pm: Bermuda Police Media Manager was interviewed by the Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore today, video below

Update 12.37pm: We have removed the Causeway stream and have rehooked it up. Bakery Lane in Pembroke is flooded

Update 12.25pm: We have not seen any major damage, large trees down or anything like that at this time, although there is plenty of scattered debris. There is a traffic light down in Hamilton

Update 12.08pm: The BWS said Leslie’s closest point of approach to Bermuda within 72 hrs [3 days] has passed, and the NHC said Leslie is now 140 miles east of us, moving towards the north at 10mph with maximum sustained winds of 60mph

Update 11.59am: A sixth location has been added into the feed, this one coming from the Spanish Point, Pembroke area.

Update 11.53am: BWS said: “Winds have been sustained tropical storm force, gusting hurricane force at Commissioner’s Point, which represents elevated and exposed areas of Bermuda.”

Update 11.29am: Live stream is back up

Update 11.25am: We need to rehook up the stream, will be back live in a few mins

Update 11.18am: Traffic on the Causeway is noticeably light with minutes going by with no traffic at all, however some cars and a handful of bikes are passing over it. Rain is steadily falling, with intermittent heavy downfalls.

Update 11.07am: BELCO said there have been a total 5 larger outages since the storm started yesterday — in Pembroke, Devonshire, Paget, St. David’s, as well as scattered small outagesand approximately 650 customers have been affected by power outages due to Tropical Storm Leslie so far.

Update 11.03am: Quick video below of Hungry Bay in Paget a short while ago

Update 10.50am: The effects are really being felt now, with heavy winds and rain pounding much of the island.

Update 10.42am: We have replaced the St David’s stream with one from the eastern side of the Causeway – which remains open at this time. We will be moving one camera around to different locations as the day progresses.

Update 10.16am: BELCO said there are only two storm-related outages recorded as of this writing. One in St David’s was caused by vegetation in contact with power lines at 6:06am – affecting approx 125 customers – with power restored at 6:31am. The second was at 7:45am in the Dundonald Street area, affecting approx 35 customers, and was restored at Power restored 9:57am.

Update 10.12am: We have deliberately taken down the St David’s feed as we will be taking that camera mobile and streaming from various parts of the island.

Update 9.50am: The Department of Airport Operations said that all flights for today — with the exception of the British Airways London flight — have now cancelled and the Airport will close from 9:30am through 4:00 pm.

Update 9.44pm: BWS forecaster Jeff Torgerson said Leslie is not expected to regain category 1 hurricane status “until Monday, if at all.”

Update 9.38am: Quick video of the weather conditions at the airport this morning:

Update 9.30am: The latest update from the NHC said Leslie is slightly weaker, down to maximum sustained winds of 60mph. Leslie has moved 20 miles closer to us this morning, and is now 150 miles south-east of Bermuda, and moving towards the north at 9mph.

Update 8.59am: Tweet from the Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore below

#Bermuda gusts this morning:Esso Pier– 40mph, Commissioners Point– 47mph, St Davids — 45mph, Bermuda NWS — 44mph…. all with HVY rain

— Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) September 9, 2012

Update 8.56am: Jet Blue has now cancelled their flight today, joining American Airlines, Delta, US Airways and Air Canada who have already cancelled their flights.

Update 8.35am: The impacts of Leslie are definitely starting to show with varying degrees at different locations. As seen on our live feed above, our Pembroke location on Glebe Road is experiencing increasing winds and rain, while our St David’s and Paget locations have not been impacted as much.

Update 7.55am: We have added a fourth location into the video feed – from Trimingham Hill, Paget.

Update 7.36am: We have added a live video feed from the Hamilton docks above, so will be interchanging between Hamilton, Pembroke and St David’s.

Update 5.45am: As of this time, BELCO has not received any reports of power outages. The Causeway will remain open unless sustained winds exceed 50 knots.

2.5 hour live stream replay from Bermuda’s Channel 82 from Scaur Hill, Somerset:

#HurricaneLeslie #Weather

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