NNA - Hurricane Fiona drenched Bermuda with heavy rain and buffeted the Atlantic island with hurricane-force winds on Friday as it trackednorthward toward Nova Scotia, where it threatens to become one of the most severe storms in Canadian history.

Fiona already battered a series of Caribbean islands earlier in the week, killing at least eight people and knocking out power for virtually all of Puerto Rico's 3.3 million people during a sweltering heat wave.

The storm skirted Bermuda as a monster Category 4 storm but diminished in power to Category 3 as it passed well to the west of the British territory, which lies 700 miles off the U.S. state of North Carolina. Still, gusts reached as high as 103 mph overnight, with sustained winds of up to 80 mph, the Bermuda Weather Service said in a bulletin.

The Bermuda Electric Light Co, the island's sole power provider, said about 25,000 customers, or more than 60% of its customer base, had no electricity on Friday.

With the storm still lashing the island with rain and high winds, all government offices and schools were closed on Friday.

While there were no additional assessments on damage or reports of casualties, Bermudans appeared to have prepared well for the storm, which devastated Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic earlier in the week. -- Reuters

==================== L.Y