be a potential threat to the Island.

Ominously sharing the name of the hurricane which last surprised the Island six years ago, Emily was expected to have little effect on local weather.

But news of the upgrading of the tropical storm, which had been in the Atlantic for some days, to a hurricane renewed fears that it could change direction.

As of last night, the hurricane was about 300 nautical miles southeast of the Island, heading west at a speed of five knots. It had sustained winds of 64 knots and gusts up to 80 knots, placing it in the least severe class of hurricanes.

Emily's closest approach was expected to be 261 nautical miles to the south of Bermuda at 1 p.m. today.

"We will probably just get a lot of rain and wind,'' said Petty Officer Shane Hahn of the US Naval Oceanography Command Facility. "The hurricane should stay to the south of us, unless something drastic happens in the next few hours.'' With hurricanes, you just never know, he said.

The storm began yesterday as a tropical depression, but in three hours progressed to a tropical storm and a hurricane.

When another hurricane named Emily struck Bermuda on September 25, 1987, her 116 mile per hour winds did millions of dollars in damage.

Weather forecasters said it was too early to accurately predict which direction Hurricane Emily would take as it neared the US East Coast.

"All of our (computer) models agree that for the next day or two, it's going to move towards the west relatively slowly,'' said Mr. Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Centre in Miami.

"After that, some models say it's going to turn and other models say it's going to continue west,'' he added. "With the slow movement right now, it's no threat for the next couple of days.'' News of the hurricane coincided with a Ministry of Works and Engineering release detailing emergency measures for severe storms.

Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto pointed out locations of boxes which would be used to clear roads for emergency vehicles after any storm.

The six boxes contain chain saws, hand saws, helmets and assorted tools as well as four quarters for phone calls. Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto said: "They will be loaded onto the back of trucks and taken to the places where there is the most damage.'' There is also a store of 75 tarpaulins which will be boosted to 150 this week.

The Bermuda Regiment also has 150 tarpaulins. Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto stressed that tarpaulins ran short during the last hurricane.

Numbers of emergency generators were also boosted after they ran short during the last emergency. A hurricane command post would be set up at Police Operations in Prospect. Chief Insp. Harold Moniz said: "At present we are just on standby. There is no great threat from this hurricane yet.

"We would normally start preparations if we knew a hurricane was to hit the Island within 24 to 48 hours.'' The Minister said that the previous problems with electricity and phone cables being blown down would be lessened because many of the cables are now underground.

She said: "All the people who complained about the digging of the trench will not be complaining when they keep their electricity supplies during a hurricane.'' More than half the residents living in areas which would be affected by hurricanes have responded to questionnaires sent out by the Emergency Measures Organisation. The EMO will now hold a public presentations on the subject of storm surge on three consecutive evenings in different parts of the Island.

The first is at Port Royal School on Tuesday, September 7, followed by the Cathedral School and then Francis Patton School. All presentations begin at 7 p.m.