Hurricane Gonzalo Makes Landfall In Bermuda As A Category 3 Storm

With maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, Hurricane Gonzalo gave the island chain of Bermuda a direct blow on Friday.

Via the National Hurricane Center, here's a satellite loop of when the storm made landfall:

The Royal Gazette, a newspaper in Bermuda, reported that by 8 p.m. ET., nearly 80 percent of the island's customers were without power.

The AP reports that as the eye of the storm brought a lull in the wind and rain, residents disregarded warnings to stay inside and ventured out to survey the damage, "noting that porches were destroyed and power lines were downed."

The AP adds:

"Hurricane-force winds were predicted to resume and batter Bermuda for a total of seven hours, and forecasters said a storm surge would cause significant flooding on an island about one-third the size of Washington, D.C. The Bermuda Weather Service said seas outside the reef were 30 feet (9 meters) and still building.

"'They're going to get hammered is the bottom line here,' said Max Mayfield, a former director of the U.S. hurricane Center in Miami."

Reuters reports that Gonzalo is the strongest storm to hit Bermuda in a decade.

The extent of the damage caused by the storm will probably not be known until daybreak.

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