Hurricane Imelda, a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (161 km/h), battered Bermuda late on the night of October 1, 2025, leaving the tiny Atlantic island reeling from destructive winds, damaging waves, and flash flooding. According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Imelda’s core passed directly over Bermuda, with the storm’s center located about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of the island as it tracked east-northeast. The NHC warned of “damaging waves, and flash flooding expected into the morning,” and urged residents to take shelter as the storm raged outside.
By 11 p.m. Eastern Time, the NHC confirmed that the storm’s center was moving over Bermuda, unleashing gusts that topped 105 mph. Michael Weeks, Bermuda’s minister of national security, issued a late-night plea: “Please everyone, listen to our meteorologists and stay inside and stay safe.” The government reported that 53 people took refuge in emergency shelters, while power outages affected 654 customers across the island. Fortunately, there were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths in Bermuda, though the full extent of the damage was still being assessed as dawn approached.
Imelda’s rapid development caught many off guard. The storm first formed as a tropical storm over the Bahamas on Sunday afternoon, September 28, 2025, before intensifying into a hurricane on Monday night. As it brushed Florida’s east coast, Imelda brought heavy rainfall and prompted tropical storm warnings across the central and northwestern Bahamas. The storm then set its sights on Bermuda, which had just weathered the passage of Category 4 Hurricane Humberto earlier in the week. Humberto, while not making direct landfall, had already left the region on edge, and its lingering effects were still being felt as Imelda approached.
Bermuda’s authorities moved swiftly in anticipation of the hurricane’s arrival. According to the Bermuda government, 100 soldiers were deployed to secure critical infrastructure, clear debris from roads, and assist at emergency shelters. Public schools, government offices, and the international airport were all closed on Wednesday, October 1, as officials warned residents to prepare for the worst. “This is a dangerous storm system that could bring destructive winds, heavy rainfall and significant coastal impacts,” Minister Weeks cautioned. The NHC projected that Imelda would drop between 2 and 4 inches (50 to 100 mm) of rain, as well as unleash a dangerous storm surge with the potential for severe coastal flooding.
Imelda’s impact was not confined to Bermuda. Earlier in the week, the storm triggered floods in the northern Caribbean. In eastern Cuba, more than 18,000 people were evacuated from Guantanamo province, while flooding and landslides cut off access to 17 communities housing over 24,000 people in Santiago de Cuba. Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero confirmed that two people died in Cuba due to flooding, underscoring the storm’s deadly reach. Meanwhile, in Haiti, one person remained missing after heavy rains swept through vulnerable communities.
As Imelda swept past Bermuda, the NHC reported that conditions on the island would gradually improve as the storm’s core moved northeast. Yet, the aftermath was far from tranquil. Hundreds of customers remained without power, and the threat of flash flooding lingered into the early morning. The hurricane’s passage also left its mark on the U.S. East Coast, where neither Imelda nor Humberto made direct landfall, but both generated powerful surf and dangerous rip currents. In North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the effects were dramatic: six unoccupied beachfront homes collapsed in the village of Buxton and elsewhere, a stark consequence of ongoing erosion, high surf, and rising sea levels, according to Cape Hatteras National Seashore officials.
Imelda and Humberto’s proximity to each other led to an unusual meteorological dance known as the Fujiwhara effect, in which two storms rotate around a shared midpoint and influence each other’s movements. This rare phenomenon contributed to the unpredictability of both storms’ paths and intensities during the week. While Humberto weakened and was forecast to merge with a frontal boundary on Wednesday night, Imelda was expected to maintain hurricane status as it trekked further into open Atlantic waters before eventually transitioning into an extratropical low and weakening on October 3, 2025.
Bermuda’s experience with Imelda is, unfortunately, not unique. The island, despite its small size and remote location, is no stranger to major hurricanes. On record, 14 hurricanes have come within 10 miles of Bermuda, and the most recent direct hit before Imelda was Hurricane Ernesto last year. The island’s infrastructure and emergency response systems are well-practiced, but each new storm brings fresh challenges and anxieties to residents who know all too well the power of nature’s fury.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic, the NHC was monitoring two additional tropical waves for potential development as of October 2, 2025. One area of interest was located over the Florida peninsula, with a 10% chance of developing into a tropical system by October 4. Should a low-pressure area form near the northwestern Bahamas or southern Florida, any development would be gradual, with the system likely drifting northwest into the Gulf of Mexico. Regardless of whether it develops into a named storm, forecasters warned of increased rain chances across the region this weekend.
The second area being watched was a tropical wave expected to move off the coast of Africa within the next two days. While development odds were still modest—about 20% over the course of the following week—meteorologists noted that the system’s current location over land meant there was no immediate threat. However, as the wave moves westward across the Atlantic, it could become the next storm to watch for potential impacts in the Caribbean or even the United States, although it is still too early to predict its eventual path or strength.
With the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season running from June 1 through November 30, forecasters and emergency officials are urging residents across the region to remain vigilant. The rapid escalation of Imelda from a tropical storm to a powerful hurricane in just a matter of days is a sobering reminder of how quickly conditions can change. As always, the advice from meteorologists and officials remains the same: stay informed, prepare early, and heed warnings when they come.
For now, as Bermuda begins the process of recovery and the Atlantic basin remains active, communities up and down the eastern seaboard and across the Caribbean are keeping a wary eye on the tropics, knowing that the season is far from over.
