Soldiers from the Royal Bermuda Regiment teams hit the highways early today in the wake of Hurricane Nicole.

Major Andrew Clarke, Chief of Staff and Operations Officer at the nerve centre of the RBR hurricane operation, said: “Bermuda has weathered the storm pretty well, despite the saturated ground.”

“In terms of being hit, Nicole struck much harder than Hurricane Gonzalo two years ago but, perhaps because Gonzalo uprooted all these massive old trees then, there isn’t much lying on the ground now.”

Maj Clarke added that the road from Warwick Camp to Dockyard was clear on a single lane and was also clear from Barnes Corner to the traffic lights at Paget.

“We have currently got five teams engaged in clearance tasks with downed trees and power lines on the South Shore around Astwood Cove and Coral Beach.”

Reconnaissance teams also checked Pembroke out to Spanish Point and returned along North Shore Road to Flatts Bridge, with routes being checked and cleared where required out to the east end.

Maj Clarke said: “It’s very comprehensive coverage really and we’re clearing what we can on the hoof — if our recce teams find something that can be removed or cut up with chainsaws very quickly they’re doing that and putting it at the side of the road for Works & Engineering to collect.

“I’m very happy with the operations side and with the way things have worked — we really gelled which is essential for the success of any operation.