severe thunderstorm which hit the Island early yesterday morning.

The storm, with winds up to 50 knots and marble-size hail, beat upon the Shaw Wood Crescent home of Mrs. Florence Richardson.

Mrs. Richardson, who had her whole porch roof torn off and a few shutters damaged, said: "I thank God no one was injured. I don't know why the window did not come in, but I thank God.'' Mrs. Richardson said she was wandering inside her home when she heard a "roar''.

"I thought it might have been worse than it is,'' she said, as she scanned the missing blinds and rubble scattered around her house.

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Soares, who just celebrated their 65th anniversary, also felt the wrath of the storm which extensively damaged their bedroom roof.

Calling the destructive force a tornado, Mrs. Soares said: "I heard a terrible amount of noise between 6.35 and 6.40 this morning. I was blaming some of the men who had left stuff outside. But it was the wind. It made a great dent in the bedroom roof.

"We're just lucky my son, who lives below, was able to come up right away to repair it.'' Mr. Soares was also relieved that no one was injured.

She said in addition to the bedroom roof, her son's outside furniture was damaged and the wind sent lawn chairs flying.

Damaged to the Soares' home had not been assessed yesterday.

Neither had the damage to the home of Mrs. Marion Doidge's late sister some 200 yards away.

Mrs. Doidge said she was not awake when a glass pane on the eastern side of the house was shattered. But she said two house guests heard the "roar''.

"My son has been out to look at it (the house)'', she said. "I have no idea as far as damage estimates yet.'' The storm, due to an intense low pressure some 200 miles west of the Island moving northeast, also caused power outages in Smith's Parish, Bermuda Electric Light Company spokeswoman Ms Linda Smith said.

Between 7.57-8.45 a.m. those in the Flatts Village and the Store Hill areas lost power due to lightning.

Lightning also hit a pole on the North Shore in Devonshire, causing DeFontes Broadcasting's VSB television channel to go off the air at 7.57 a.m.

It was back up an hour later but the station was deliberately taken off the air between 9.30-9.51 a.m. to allow repairs to be made to the power line.

Despite such incidents, a fire spokesman said the Fire Services received no reports of any weather-related mishaps.

And while weather forecasters at the United States Naval Air Station confirmed that winds were gusting in excess of 50 knots in some areas, they where skeptical about the possibility of tornadoes.

"We don't really feel it was a tornado,'' a spokesman said. "It was more of a down burst with a thunderstorm and winds gusting in excess of 50 knots. We have no way to say it was not a tornado, but when you have isolated damage as in this case as opposed to a path of damage we tend to think it is not a tornado.'' Meanwhile forecasters issued a thunderstorm warning which was in effect until 10 p.m. last night and a small craft warning which remains in effect until 10 tonight.

The weather, which also delayed motorists traveling from the west end into Hamilton by half an hour yesterday morning, is expected to be unseasonably cool today with occasional morning showers.

Forecasters predict a high of 67 with northwest winds of 20-30 knots, gusting to 35 knots then slowly decreasing. Temperatures will dip to 60 degrees Fahrenheit tonight.

PICKING UP THE PIECES -- That is what several residents in the Spanish Point area spent yesterday doing after a thunderstorm, packing winds up to 50 knots, hit the Island during the early morning. Pictured cleaning up the roof of Mrs.

Florence Richardson's Shaw Wood Crescent home is Mr. Kenny Wheatley.