Hurricane Luis -- which has carved a devastating trail across Antigua -- is expected to cuff Bermuda on Saturday afternoon.

Winds up to 30 knots are predicted as Luis sweeps within 300 miles of the Island, local weather experts say.

"It is still four days out, and there is a lot of room for error in the movement of the storm,'' said meteorologist Mr. Jamie McLean last night.

"The interesting thing is that the hurricane-force winds extend far out from the centre of the storm.'' Yesterday, the Bermuda Weather Service was tagging Luis a "potential threat'' to the Island.

"The next couple of days we will fine-tune our forecast,'' Mr. McLean added.

Meanwhile, more details have emerged of the swath of destruction cut by Luis in the Caribbean, particularly in Antigua and its sister island, Barbuda.

Two hotels were washed away in Antigua, a nightclub was flattened, hundreds of homes were damaged, and the capital St. John's reportedly resembled a junkyard, with awnings, roofs and power lines torn off.

The hospital was destroyed as well, prompting Prime Minister Lester Bird to appeal to Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Rosello for a mobile medical unit.

The British Foreign Office also reported "widespread structural damage'' on the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Martin and Anguilla.

Bermudians with relatives in the Caribbean have been anxiously awaiting each snippet of news on Luis.

One of those with business interests in Nevis is new Tourism Minister the Hon.

David Dodwell, who is a director of the Island's 38-room Nisbet Plantation.

Yesterday, Mr. Dodwell, who also runs a hotel in Bermuda, said he had received a damage report on the property.

"We had some tree damage and modest building damage, but no injuries, after the hotel was hit by 100 mph winds,'' he said.

"As a result of the storm turning to the north we weren't as badly affected as we might have been.

"An interesting fact is that the southern end of a hurricane is less powerful than the northern end, and we got hit by the southern end.'' Mr. Dodwell added: "It is fortunate that we had very few guests -- those who remained grouped together and made the best of it.

"I've heard other hotels, such as The Four Seasons, evacuated completely.'' After sweeping away from Antigua on Tuesday, 700-mile wide Luis later inflicted its misery on Puerto Rico, causing thousands of residents to seek refuge in shelters.

With winds of 130 mph, Luis was slowly moving northwest away from the Caribbean yesterday, and the National Weather Service downgraded its hurricane warning to a tropical storm warning for Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.

At 2 p.m., the centre of Luis -- a category four hurricane -- was in the Atlantic Ocean about 135 miles north-northeast of San Juan.

Forecasters expected Luis to dump 10 inches of rain on Puerto Rico before turning due north today as a storm over Florida keeps it away from the US mainland.

"As long as it stays, Hurricane Luis will not have any strange ideas about coming over Florida,'' said Fiona Horsfall, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Centre in Miami.

At 7 p.m. last night, Bermuda forecasters said Luis was 710 nautical miles south of Bermuda, and moving northwest at 9 knots.

It was predicted to come within 298 miles southwest of Bermuda at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

"Bermuda is probably going to see a breeze coming up late on Saturday,'' said Mr. McLean, while stressing Luis' path was difficult to predict with accuracy.

He estimated winds of 20 to 30 knots would buffet the Island.

With Bermuda still keeping a close watch on Luis, any prospect of local volunteers, including engineers, helping out in Antigua and other storm-ravaged Caribbean areas can be ruled out.

"Bermuda has got to be the number one priority,'' said Bermuda Electric Light Company spokeswoman Ms Linda Smith.

"We have to wait and see whether we are secure first.'' Ms Smith explained Belco was a member of the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation, and had received a fax asking for Bermudian personnel to be placed on standby.

But it was likely to take several days for storm-damaged Caribbean isles to work out what help they needed, added Ms Smith.

"By that time we should know what effect, if any, Luis has had on us.''