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Bill and Hillary Clinton get out of Bermuda before Hurricane Bill strikes
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This NOAA satellite image taken Friday, August 21, 2009 at 12:15 PM CDT shows a large swirl of clouds off the East Coast associated with Hurricane Bill. The hurricane is expected to gradually curve to the northeast over the next few days before grazing Nova Scotia on Sunday. Large waves and breezy conditions are expected along the Northeast coast of the United States (AP Photo/Weather Underground)
A State Department spokesman today said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had cut short their vacation on Bermuda due to the approach of Hurricane Bill.
Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington, D.C. that the Clintons left Bermuda Thursday for a different vacation spot, which he declined to disclose.
The former president apparently got some golf in Thursday before the couple left the island. He was spotted golfing at Port Royal Golf Course, according to the Associated Press, where four former Guantanamo Bay prisoners now work as groundskeepers. There apparently was no contact between the president and the former prisoners, western Chinese Muslims called Uighurs.
Hurricane Bill weakened to a Category 2 hurricane Friday, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. Although it appears it will not make a direct hit on Bermuda, it was still causing flooding on the island and forced the closure of LF Wade International Airport and suspension of ferry service that links the different islands of the British overseas territory.
Among the flights canceled by the storm were a British Airways flight to London this evening and all Delta, Air Canada, Continental, US Airways, and JetBlue flights for Saturday.
The causeway bridge that connects the airport on the northern island to the main island was ordered closed at 8:30 p.m. Bermuda time.
“Based on expert advice from the Bermuda Weather Service and other entities, we have been advised that the Causeway Bridge can expect to see unusually high tides, increased surf and sea swells as a result of Hurricane Bill,” explained Walter Roban, Acting Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Housing.
The Royal Gazette newspaper of Bermuda reported that the bridge is expected to reopen tomorrow morning.
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