A pre-hurricane tour across the island was the first order of business for Premier Paula Cox yesterday to reassure residents and business owners before the storm.Hurricane Leslie has been downgraded to a tropical storm which will be closest to Bermuda around 4pm on Sunday.According to the Bermuda Weather Service, Leslie is expected to regain hurricane status to reach Category 2 strength as the centre passes to our east-northeast at a probable distance of 170 miles.The Premier’s tour spanned a number of locations from Hamilton Parish right up to Woody’s Drive In in Sandys, and a City tour with Mayor of Hamilton Graeme Outerbridge.The Premier, who was supposed to be off Island this weekend, changed her plans due to the impending storm.“This is the first hurricane that’s come up during my term of office as leader, and I thought it was important, even if it isn’t seen as the ‘biggy’, it’s still important to be here,” said Ms Cox.“Hurricanes can be very unpredictable, we don’t know what is going to happen and you certainly want to make sure that you’re touching base. I’m not covering the whole Island, but touching base with people to see how they’re doing,” she added.Of changing her travel plans, she said: “I felt it was more important to cancel and stay.”The first stop was the Matilda Smith Williams Seniors residence in Devonshire where the Premier met with caretakers and residents to ensure they are prepared for the storm.She then visited the Dialysis Unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital before making her way to Hamilton Parish, where she chatted with residents of a Winton Hill condominium complex.Ms Cox also met with Mayor of Hamilton Graeme Outerbridge who was confident all the necessary storm preparations were made. “We are ready for the storm,” he said.“We’ve done our proper preparations, we have an actual regime that we go through and I’m satisfied that our professionals are ready for the storm whatever comes.When asked what her main message was in the lead up to the storm, the Premier replied: “The word is that we’ve got to remember who we are, it means the duty of care to our neighbours.“It’s taking time to look out for others who may not be as fortunate as ourselves and making sure that we also touch base with people, particularly if you know that they are a single person and a senior, just seeing if there’s anything that you could do to help, whether its just to offer water or a word of comfort.“People aren’t expecting you to come out and give them the world, it’s just letting people know that you care; it is as simple as that. And also letting them know that we’ve been through hurricanes before and we’re going to go through them in the future, and this time it’s about making sure we prepare,” said Ms Cox.“Hopefully this storm will continue to be less of a threat but at the same time what I’m impressed about is that people are taking action to prepare. And hopefully its all a big yawn but we have to operate on the basis that it may not be.“It’s never over until the fat lady sings and hurricanes can be notoriously unpredictable but I think the more that we hear that it’s veering east the better,” she said.“At this stage what we will do is what we have always done from a public works point of view, we are in the business of making sure Bermuda resumes back to work as quickly as possible with minimal risk to life.”From Hamilton the Premier went to the west end of the Island for a number of visits in Sandys.The storm is forecast to move further away from the Island this weekend. When asked how she plans to weather the storm, Ms Cox said: “I tend to have a stack of books for reading.“They tell me protocols are that you are insulated in some way but to be quite honest I’d like to stay at home and catch up on some reading and the work that you have to do that isn’t action oriented, but more to do with preparation.“For me, it was good to see people taking action and taking pre-emptive steps to prepare for this storm,” said Ms Cox.“I want to commend the Minister of National Security, Wayne Perinchief and the EMO who have been meeting consistently for the last few days to ensure that the public is updated and prepared,” she added.