Hurricane Ernesto bears down on Bermuda amid deadly flood warnings

Atlantic island territory, which has seen fewer than a dozen hurricanes since 1850, braces for dangerous storm surge

Hurricane Ernesto bore down on Bermuda on Friday as a category 2 storm, threatening the British island territory with strong winds, a dangerous storm surge and potentially deadly flooding.

Ernesto, centered about 95 miles (150km) south-southwest of the archipelago at 8pm Atlantic Standard Time (0000 GMT on Saturday), was producing sustained winds of up to 100mph (155km/h) and had the potential to drop up to 9in (230mm) of rain, the US National Hurricane Center said.