Bermuda appeared to be breathing a collective sigh of relief today as Hurricane Bill passed by the Island leaving it almost unscathed.

Police said there were no major incidents, while King Edward VII Memorial Hospital did not treated anyone with storm-related injuries either in Paget or the new medical centre at Southside.

The Causeway, which had been closed at 8.30 p.m. yesterday, reopened at 9.30 a.m. today, and buses this morning resumed their operating schedules.

The airport reopened at 2 p.m. but Aaron Adderley, L.F. Wade International Airport general manager, said all flights today had been cancelled except for the British Airways London-Gatwick route and the incoming American Airlines flights from JFK and Miami.

“The BA flight is taking a three hour delay because of the hurricane. They wanted to keep a check on the crosswind situation and thought the delay would make things more feasible for them.

“I believe it could be close to midnight before the flight to Gatwick departs.”

JetBlue said it would fly extra flights tomorrow for customers booked today and unable to travel.

Belco said this morning that 1,300 customers were without power — initially the number had been 3,700 who lost power at some point during the storm. It is expected that most people will have power by tonight.

“It’s been on and off all night. The crews had to stop working in the night because the winds got too high and there was lightning,” said a spokeswoman.

She said the company had received no reports of downed power lines but that any outages were due to debris and wind. “A lot of them are due to debris falling onto wires or winds blowing out switches.”

Six homeless people took shelter at CedarBridge Academy. They were transported to the Government designated emergency shelter by the Salvation Army and left voluntarily this morning.

All roads were clear by lunchtime, with the exception of a section of road in the John Smith’s Bay area.

At its closest point, Hurricane Bill passed about 166 nautical miles west-southwest of the Island, by which time it had been downgraded to a Category Two storm.

However gusts at Commissioners Point still reached 84 knots, according to the Bermuda Weather Service, while L.F. Wade International Airport experienced sustained winds of 40 knots with gusts of 52.

A spokesperson for the Weather Service said that there may have been some tornado activity yesterday evening, adding: “We did see some interesting rotations around 10 p.m. or 11 p.m., but we haven’t had any reports of tornadoes yet.”

Waves outside the reef were recorded at 30 to 35 feet, which will likely result in some beach erosion. There was still concern regarding the high surf activity along the South Shore beaches and people were being told not to swim because of dangerous rip currents and the heavy surf.

The Fire Service experienced a handful of false alarms caused by the wind, but there were no major incidents, while the only incidents reported by Harbour Radio were boats breaking lose from their moorings.

In the central parishes there were no reports of any major damage to properties, and residents said they were relieved the Island had escaped the full force of the hurricane.

“We are blessed, there’s been very little damage, just a few trees down,” said one Bermudian woman from Paget.

“It wasn’t as powerful as Fabian so I was thankful for that,” said Lana Talbot, a school psychologist from Smith’s. “This one, it’s just been high winds and a lot of rain.”

Despite no reports of any rooves blowing off or broken windows, it was the beaches which took the brunt of the storm.

John Smith’s Bay in particular was strewn with trash with evidence of sand erosion, particularly around the lifeguard hut. The debris on the beach included washed-up plastic bottles, branches and pieces of wood.

Velerie (CORR) Trott, 55, of Paget, said: “I’m shocked to see the trash that has washed up. I have even seen a piece of metal and wire. It is shocking.”

She added: “You can’t compare this to Fabian but I guess it’s probably along the same effects in terms of the wind, the waves and the beach erosion.”

South Road approaching John Smith’s Bay was also strewn with branches and uprooted foliage. But from 10 a.m. Works and Engineering crews were out in force clearing the roadway of the debris.

Lawyer Charles Richardson, a resident of Smith’s, was watching the clean-up close to the bay.

Mr. Richardson said: “The storm wasn’t too bad, just a lot of wind. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

“I think the most amazing thing around this neighbourhood for us is the chance to see the surf. We don’t get the chance to see it like this too often. It reinstills your respect for Mother Nature.”

He added he had heard no reports of any damage to houses, but added: “We are definitely going to lose some shoreline somewhere.”

At Warwick Long Bay there was more evidence of sand erosion, with the drop-off bump on the beach which leads into the water flattened by the storm.A large piece of concrete and wire structure was also washed up on the shore.

Tourists and residents gathered to watch the powerful waves hitting the shoreline. Mike Kane, a 35-year-old corporate banker from Devonshire, said: “This storm was pretty uneventful, which is a good thing I guess.

“It was just lots of wind for a bit, but that was it.”

Down at Elbow Beach this morning Jim Cantore, the ‘storm tracker’ and meteorologist, was reporting on the pounding wind and surf for the ‘Weather Channel’.

Mr. Cantore told The Royal Gazette: “I think what is amazing about this storm is it has a tropical storm wind field with a centre which extends 275 miles at one point.

“That’s why it’s still windy here even though the storm is 200 miles away. But this storm has just brushed Bermuda.”

In St. George’s the only obvious signs of damage was debris in the streets.

This morning Detroy and Angel Smith were walking with their daughters Shandora, Jendeya and Detroya and Mr. Smith said: “We were as prepared as we could be. We wasted $70 on a flashlight we didn’t have to use. We have to see if we can get our money back.”

General Manager of Somers Supermart Rowan Ramotar said last night was very busy, but customers were coming in slowly today.

“It’s been pretty slow today. I think people got more than they should have yesterday, so it’s a matter of using up what they got yesterday.”

In the West End, Robin Gilbert, manager of 9 Beaches, said the beachside cabana resort had been without power for 12 hours, from 7.30 p.m. last night.

However, he reported no damage and described the waterfront at the Somerset resort as “like a millpond”.

“We were in the lee of the storm because the wind was coming from the south east and there was a big hill shielding us, so that worked very well,” he said.

“Even in the north side there was not a ripple on the water, it was like a mill pond.

“However we had a few guests who slept on mattresses in the lobby because they were a bit worried about sleeping in the cabanas at night. We had about ten guests from the 60 or so who slept there.”

Mr. Gilbert said some people had braved out the blustery weather by drinking ‘Dark ‘n’ Stormies’ in the hotel bar. “We’ve introduced some guests from Italy to the delights of Dark ‘n’ Stormies,” he said.

Edward Johnston, who lives in a house on South Road, in Southampton, said: “There was no power lost, it was just like it didn’t happen. We had a little rain last night, virtually no wind, the way it is right now is how it’s been, no thunder, no lightening, no loss of power we were sitting up watching T.V. on and off.

“We had lots of people come by to take pictures or whatever but that was basically it. It was quiet, we didn’t lose any windows or see any rooftops blowing off. There was just lots of debris blowing around and branches.”

Despite Government warnings to stay away from the beaches on the south shore more than 50 people gathered at Horseshoe Bay.

Spectators like Remy Rodriguez, from Ontario, Canada, admitted he came down to the beach to join in on the excitement. “I heard there was going to be surfing going on so I just wanted to check that out,” he said.

Terry Roberson, general manager, Bermuda CableVision said this morning in a statement: “As Hurricane Bill passed by the Island in the early hours of this morning, some CableVision television and internet services suffered interruptions caused by these weather conditions.

“Customers in parts of Spanish Point may still be experiencing issues caused by our delicate fibre equipment being displaced by strong winds and fallen branches. Our technical team have been working since early this morning to rectify these outages, which should be restored this afternoon.

“Our customer service centre is now open and can be contacted on 292-5544 or by email on info@cablevision.bm by customers wishing to report any issues caused by the tropical storm.”

Acting Minister for Labour, Home Affairs and Housing and Acting Chairman of the Emergency Measures Organisation Walter Roban said he wanted to thank those who have assisted over the last few days and to also thank the public for its patience and cooperation during this period.

BF&M open for business at noon today to process any Hurricane Bill claims.

The Tynes Bay public drop-off is now open.

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