By Sam Strangeways
HAMILTON Bermuda (Reuters) - Hurricane Gonzalo barreled toward Bermuda on Friday, expected to bring damaging winds and dangerous storm surge as one of the strongest storms to threaten the Atlantic island, forecasters said.
Gonzalo was swirling about 195 miles (310 km) south-southwest of the British territory, with sustained winds of up to 130 miles per hour (215 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The Category 4 storm was forecast to bring tropical storm conditions to Bermuda by late Friday morning and hurricane conditions by afternoon. Forecasters said the storm's eye would be near the island as early as Friday afternoon, with hurricane force winds extending up to 60 miles (95 km) from the center.
Gonzalo is expected to slowly weaken throughout Friday and into the weekend, the Miami-based center said, but it is likely to be a dangerous hurricane when it moves near or over Bermuda.
Bermuda, a popular tourist destination and insurance industry hub, is still recovering from Tropical Storm Fay, which swept over the island early on Sunday with near hurricane-force winds of 70 mph (110 kph).
Linda Cook, 40, from Warwick parish, described watching that storm blow the roofs off three houses on Sunday and said she did not know what to expect from Gonzalo. "It's my first hurricane and I'm terrified," she said on Thursday.
Gonzalo is the Atlantic's first Category 4 hurricane since 2011, according to Jeff Masters, a hurricane expert with private forecaster Weather Underground. He described Gonzalo in a blog post as "one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to threaten the island."
Hurricane Fabian, which pummeled the island in 2003 and caused $300 million in damage, was a Category 3 storm, he said.
Gonzalo has already wrought destruction in the Caribbean, killing an elderly sailor and damaging some three dozen vessels in St Maarten, the Dutch portion of Saint Martin island, the Daily Herald reported.
(Additional reporting by Colleen Jenkins; Writing by Curtis Skinner; Editing by Dominic Evans and Mohammad Zargham)
