Joaquin Barrels Toward Bermuda Leaving Its Mark

HAMILTON, Bermuda - The island of Bermuda prepares for Hurricane Joaquin. Residents of the British island territory boarded up and stocked up ahead of the Category 3 hurricane.

Publican transportation was suspended and shelters were preparing to open.

The Bermuda Weather Service reported the island would face strong, tropical force winds late Sunday with the storm passing over Bermuda Monday.
 
Joaquin pounded the southeastern Bahamas for two days, damaging hundreds of homes and causing heavy flooding. The government said it was still working to calculate the extent of the damage to infrastructure and private property.

Before skirting the United States coast, Joaquin did bring flooding to several states including South Carolina.

A portion of flooded Charleston, South Carolina, has reopened on a limited basis. Residents and business owners are being permitted to enter the downtown Charleston peninsula, which includes the city's historic district. Tourists and the merely curious are being turned away by police. City officials say more than 60 streets and intersections remain closed because of high water.

Meanwhile, aircraft have returned to the southeastern Bahamas to continue the search for a U.S. cargo ship with 33 people on board that got caught in Hurricane Joaquin. U.S. Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force planes and helicopters are looking for the El Faro across a broad expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Coast Guard found a life ring from the El Faro yesterday but there has been no other trace of the 790-foot ship. Authorities last heard from the crew on Thursday.

Source: Associated Press