Imelda batters Bermuda, continues churning up powerful waves along the US East Coast

By CNN Meteorologists Briana Waxman, Chris Dolce

(CNN) — Imelda’s core passed over Bermuda overnight Wednesday and knocked out power to thousands as hurricane winds ripped across the island.

The storm also knocked several homes on North Carolina’s Outer Banks into the sea and continues to churn up dangerous surf, rip currents, coastal flooding and beach erosion along the United States’ East Coast.

Conditions deteriorated in Bermuda late Wednesday as Category 2 Imelda made its approach with 100 mph sustained winds in its core. Heavy rain and wind walloped the archipelago for several hours.

A nearly 100 mph wind gust was clocked at an elevated weather observation station at the National Museum of Bermuda. Around 18,000 homes and businesses were without power in Bermuda Thursday morning, according to electricity provider BELCO.

It has been a testing week for Bermuda as Hurricane Humberto brushed by the archipelago Tuesday. The once-mighty Humberto has since deteriorated, losing its tropical status Wednesday morning as it combined with a front swinging over the ocean.

Imelda tracked much closer to Bermuda than Humberto, which passed well west of the islands as a large hurricane Tuesday, but still brought rain, gusty winds and dangerous surf there.

Conditions rapidly improved in Bermuda Thursday morning with the storm racing east away from the island.

Imelda has now lost its tropical status, but is expected to remain a powerful area of low pressure over the open north Atlantic Ocean the next few days.

Heavy surf and dangerous rip currents generated by Imelda will continue to affect much of the US East Coast, Bermuda and the Bahamas Thursday.

There are no active tropical storms or hurricanes roaming the Atlantic for the first time since September 16. Gabrielle, Humberto and Imelda all formed into hurricanes in the two weeks after that day.

A hazardous pair

Having two potent storms active for days in the western Atlantic Ocean has proved to be destructive and deadly.

The storm fueled flooding rain in Cuba, where two people were killed, according to Prime Minister Manuel Marrero. One of those killed was a 60-year-old man who died when his home collapsed in a landslide caused by heavy rain, according to the Associated Press.

Despite never making landfall in the US, Imelda was deadly there, too. A 51-year-old man drowned in Volusia County, Florida, after being swept into the ocean by rip currents, the sheriff’s office said.

In North Carolina’s Outer Banks, at least seven homes collapsed into the ocean, the National Park Service and CNN affiliate WVEC said. Coastal erosion from previous storms, combined with the twin power of Imelda and Humberto, left little buffer between these homes and the unrelenting surf.

The homes, which had been teetering on stilts as waves battered their support structure, were unoccupied when they fell, the park service said on Facebook, warning of the presence of potentially hazardous debris.

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CNN Meteorologist Mary Gilbert contributed to this report.