US Coastguard rescuers who got the first aerial view of Bermuda after the devastation described the scene this morning to The Royal Gazette.

A C130 spotter plane from the Coastguard Air Station in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, flew over the Island for three hours this morning taking video footage before heading back to the US shortly after 10 a.m..

Coastguard officer Lieutenant Raymond Mach said the pilot approach instrumentation at the Airport was down, meaning planes would need to be landed manually, as in emergency situations.

He said the West End appeared to be damaged worst, the Causeway was down due to several points of damage, and there was debris on the runway.

But the destruction was not as bad as first feared, he said.

"The only significant finding we've found is the western part of the Island is the most heavily hit, and the Causeway has big portions washed away and is unusable," said Lt. Mach.

"Part of the Airport runway is obscured by damage, but there is 6,000 feet of usable runway.

"The pilot approach instrumentation is down which renders their instruments inoperable, but (pilots) can still land them manually.

"There are missing roofs and debris around, but not as widespread as first anticipated."