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©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 9, 2001
MIAMI -- Hurricane Erin, the first named hurricane of the 2001 Atlantic season, targeted Bermuda on Saturday as it strengthened, causing officials on the island to go on alert.
The government of Bermuda issued a hurricane warning for the island, said forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
"What we're looking at for Bermuda is nearly a direct hit. It's going to be very close," said meteorologist Hugh Cobb. He said hurricane conditions on the island were expected for the next 24 hours.
At 11 p.m. EDT, Erin's maximum winds had reached nearly 85 miles per hour with higher gusts. Erin was about 290 miles east-southeast of Bermuda. Erin was located near 30.1 north latitude, 60.6 west longitude.
The hurricane was expected to strengthen during the next 24 hours, possibly becoming a Category 2 hurricane as it approaches Bermuda today, forecasters said.
Bermuda, which sit 564 miles off the coast of North Carolina, last had a hurricane in 1999 when Gert battered the south shore, destroyed one house in the island's east end and took out power for 12,000 homes.
A new tropical depression formed in the eastern Atlantic on Friday, about 595 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands and its maximum sustained winds were near 35 mph. The storm was moving west near 16 mph and this motion is expected to continue during the next 24 hours, said meteorologist Lixion Avila.
Also on Saturday, a tropical wave was located about 1,200 miles east of the Lesser Antilles.