Hurricane Ernesto gained some strength in the Atlantic Wednesday night, on track to become a major hurricane as early as Friday.
On Wednesday evening the storm was a Category 1 hurricane, registering 80mph maximum sustained winds. It was some 720 miles south-southwest of the island of Bermuda, moving Northwest at 16mph.
Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center say the storm is expected to strengthen over the next days and could become a Category 3 major hurricane by Friday. The storm is forecast to continue a turn north-northwest and slow down its forward motion somewhat on Friday and Saturday. Currently, the storm is projected to remain in the Atlantic Ocean. It is not expected to bring immediate storm conditions to the U.S. mainland.
A hurricane watch was in effect Wednesday night for the British overseas territory of Bermuda, which lies about 650 miles east of the North Carolina coast.
Ernesto is forecast to bring tropical storm conditions to the island by Friday and hurricane conditions by Saturday. Three to six inches of rain, with nine inches in isolated areas, could cause "considerable life-threatening" flooding on areas of the island.
Rainfall is expected to taper off Wednesday night in Puerto Rico and in the British and U.S. Virgin Islands.
Hundreds of thousands were without power in Puerto Rico after Ernesto passed close by the island as a tropical storm earlier this week.
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Ernesto's progress comes as U.S. agencies that respond to hurricane damage confront already-depleted coffers.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said its disaster fund has already run out of money for the year, according to CNN. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had warned a few months ago that this was imminent.
FEMA is asking Congress to pass a $9 billion supplemental request. Congress, however, is out of session until September.
This is the second year in a row that FEMA has run out of money before the height of hurricane season. Officials blame the funding problem on an increase in disasters and severity due to climate change.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico, which authorizes DHS and FEMA to coordinate relief efforts.
Swells generated by Ernesto are expected to reach the East Coast by the end of the week and into the weekend, which are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip conditions, the NHC said. Surfers and beach goers should beware.
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