00:00August 17th, 2024, Hurricane Ernesto makes landfall on the western side of Bermuda as a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 85 miles per hour, bringing power outages and a significant storm surge to the island.
00:13And nearly a year to the date, and Bermuda is in the exclusive Accurather eyepath for another E-storm. This time, it's Erin.
00:21Bermuda is situated in what's known as Hurricane Alley, the most frequent path taken by Atlantic Hurricanes.
00:26So you would think Bermuda gets slammed every hurricane season.
00:31Well, think again. On average, Bermuda experiences one damaging tropical cyclone every six or seven years, with most of the activity and higher likelihood of landfall in the months of September and October.
00:41Why? Well, the high-pressure zone east of Bermuda in the summer can deflect storm systems to the north, and the Bermuda High is strong and extends westward.
00:50It can also force hurricanes to move around it.
00:53Since 1850, 131 tropical storms and hurricanes have come within 100 miles of the island, but only 12 made landfall.
01:02And when storms do make landfall in Bermuda, the islands hold up pretty well thanks to its coral reefs, but also the well-built structures.
01:09It was after the storm in 1712 that destroyed most of the wooden structures.
01:14The decision was made to build with stone.
01:16So things can hold up pretty well, and hurricane deaths are actually pretty uncommon as well.
01:22129 people have died in Bermuda due to storms.
01:25110 of those, though, were a result of shipwrecks along the south shore in 1926.
01:31Four people did die in 2003's Hurricane Fabian, and the only tropical storm to cause a death in Bermuda since 1947.
01:38Ernesto's large wind field, though, generated large swells in life, threatening rip currents along the southeastern United States.
01:45And there were three rip current fatalities associated with Ernesto.
01:49Stay safe.
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