Hurricane Ivan, the storm which has caused death, devastation and despair in the Caribbean and Florida is being greeted with relative calm by Bermudian students in Alabama.

That's the initial report from Kimberley Ellers, a 17-year-old elementary education student at Oakwood College.

"It's not that bad ? just real stormy and windy. It's not like Fabian," Kimberley said. "Bermudians can handle this because we were there for Fabian."

But for Alabamans, Ivan is the strongest storm to hit the state in recent memory.

And Kimberley admitted to being concerned about tornadoes which are reported to have cause the deaths of seven people in Florida.

Ivan has been downgraded to a tropical storm bearing 80 miles an hour winds ? a far cry from the 135 mile an hour winds which ripped through the Caribbean, Florida and southern Alabama.

It is the third hurricane to hit the United States in the last five weeks.

Up to 250,000 people were left without power since the storm made landfall in Alabama early yesterday.

With schools ordered closed, students were confined to their dormitories.

At Oakwood College, power was cut off yesterday evening but was restored a few hours later.

About 20 Bermudian students attend the College, but dozens more Bermudians live and work in other parts of the state.