By Jasmine Patterson and Nicola Muirhead

BERMUDA (Reuters) -Hurricane Ernesto knocked out energy, downed timber and flooded components of Bermuda on Saturday however the British island territory appeared to have escaped main accidents or property injury, officers mentioned after an preliminary evaluation.

The Class 1 storm unleashed highly effective winds and whipped up 35-foot (10-meter) seas, resulting in energy loss for 71% of the territory’s 36,000 clients, officers mentioned.

“I’m happy to report that there have been no calls for service for any major incidents or damage to any property, and those calls that we’ve received over the last six hours or so are primarily flooding,” threat administration official Lyndon Raynor mentioned on a authorities video replace.

Some 5.9 inches (150 mm) of rain had fallen and extra was anticipated from the again finish of the storm, Michelle Pitcher, director of the Bermuda Climate Service, mentioned on the video.

The U.S. Nationwide Climate Service mentioned the hurricane was monitoring north-northeast. As of 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), it had moved about 85 miles (135 km) previous Bermuda, which lies some 600 miles (1,000 km) off the Carolina coast, and was anticipated to proceed transferring away on Saturday.

The middle of the storm is forecast to method southeastern Newfoundland in Canada late on Monday, the U.S. climate service mentioned.

Most sustained winds blew at 75 mph (120 kph) and had been predicted to carry at that pace for an additional 48 hours, after which they need to weaken, the U.S. climate service mentioned.

Bermuda, an archipelago with a inhabitants of round 64,000, obtained a roughly three-hour respite when Ernesto’s eye handed over the island early Saturday, however battering rain and wind resumed.

The winds had been anticipated to weaken by late Saturday, Pitcher mentioned.

“I think that brings some comfort that we are nearing the end of Hurricane Ernesto but we are not there yet,” added Michael Weeks, Bermuda’s nationwide safety minister.

Electrical utility BELCO mentioned the storm triggered close to island-wide outages, with about 25,800 clients with out energy as of Saturday afternoon.