Government last night hit back at criticism that it overreacted to Hurricane Juan which brushed past the Island yesterday and said it had taken appropriate action in the circumstances.

Acting Public Safety Minister Terry Lister said Bermuda had to take harsh measures and prepare for the worst after the tropical storm formed very late off the Island on Thursday and had given little indication of where it was heading.

He said people claiming Government had panicked purely because of the devastation left behind by Hurricane Fabian three weeks ago were exhibiting "selfish attitudes" and said he and Government would take all the same decisions again if faced with similar circumstances.

People called the radio talk shows and spoke to The Royal Gazette yesterdayto complain that Government had not only overreacted to the weather conditions, but then had continually changed its position on when the Causeway was going to be closed or open. One man complained that his parents had been stuck in New York for the day because the airport had closed down and they had been unable to fly in to the Island on time.

But Mr. Lister said it had been a small price to pay to ensure everyone's safety.

"What we did in this situation was put safety first," said Mr. Lister. "We have just lost four people in Hurricane Fabian and we have a bridge that is being repaired as quickly and effectively as possible.

"We acted to make sure that Bermuda would be safe. The last thing we wanted was more loss of life. And remember Storm Karen that came out of nowhere (two years' ago) and the damage it caused."

Mr. Lister said Government had been informed on Thursday by the Bermuda Weather Service that Juan, which was then just a tropical storm, could have severe affects on the Island, which is only just recovering from the hurricane earlier this month.

He said the original plan on Thursday was to simply put barriers up along the Causeway where the walls had not yet been replaced since Fabian, however, he said there was no guarantee that the barriers would stay in place.

So, the decision was taken to warn the public that the bridge - the only link between the East End and the mainland - could be closed, affecting schools and people trying to get to work. As it turned out, the weather was not as bad as predicted and the Causeway was open as usual yesterday. It did not close at all outside it's usual post-Fabian hours.

"It's a very, very selfish attitude," added the Minister. "What about in this case, if this man's parents had come and we had had a very bad situation and we had an accident with the storm?

"It's better his parents are in New York and they fly in a day late. You would think that after the disasters that have occurred around the world and the four families that lost their loved ones in Hurricane Fabian that people would be prepared to put public safety first. That's where my responsibility lay and there is nothing to apologise for."

And he said people should be grateful that the tropical storm, which was upgraded to a hurricane early yesterday afternoon, did not hit Bermuda.

"It could have been really bad and if we had just kept the bridge open as usual and someone had been washed overseas, what would the story have been then?," he asked.

"I would have had hundreds of people on the talk shows saying `how could the Government be so stupid?'

"It was best to err on the side of caution. We lost flights for two days, but we did not lose any lives. We would do exactly the same again based on the information that we had."

Bermuda Weather Service removed the tropical storm warning for the Island at 2 p.m. yesterday after at first predicting that the worst weather would hit the Island early evening. Hurricane Juan was heading for Halifax in Canada last night.

Meteorologist Declan O'Connell said: "It popped up at such short notice. We knew there was some disturbed weather down south and we did think it could go tropical. It's probably an overreaction because of Fabian, but better than being caught out. Because it was so close, we didn't know how close it was going to get and until we have seen it for a day or two we don't know what direction it's going in. It was better to err on the side of caution."

And duty officer at Bermuda International Airport, Arthur Adams said, looking back, the airport could have ran as usual yesterday. As it was, there were no flights. But he added: "The airport could have operated, but hindsight is always 20/20. You can't second guess these things. Luckily, this thing has brushed by us without creating any havoc whatsoever."

He said people due to fly out today should turn up for their flights as usual, and those unable to fly yesterday should call their airline to reschedule.

Belco reported no problems caused by the weather yesterday.