MIAMI - Hurricane Igor bore down on Bermuda Saturday after another cyclone raked Mexico, killing two people and battering the country with heavy winds and rains.
Bermuda was bracing for a "direct hit" from a "very large" Igor, which forecasters said would pass over the British overseas territory of 67,000 residents as early as Sunday, battering it with gale force winds and heavy rains for two days.
Tropical storm conditions were anticipated by Saturday evening, with a "dangerous" storm surge due to produce significant coastal flooding, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Local forecasters said the eye of Igor, now a category two storm on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, would pass within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of Bermuda.
"We have all heard the reports from the Bermuda Weather Service that this storm will be a long and punishing one and the potential for injury and physical damage is great," Bermuda's Minister of Labor, Home Affairs and Housing David Burch said in a statement.
At 1500 GMT, Igor had sustained winds of 110 miles (175 kilometers) per hour expected to produce a dangerous storm surge and flooding in coastal areas, forecasters said. It was about 440 miles (710 kilometers) south of Bermuda.
Igor was so large that hurricane force winds extended outward up to 105 miles (165 kilometers). Tropical storm force winds also were radiating up to 345 miles (555 kilometers) from its center, the NHC said.
Huge swells from Igor were also due to strike the US East Coast through the weekend, while "life-threatening" surf and rip currents would gradually subside in the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, portions of the Bahamas and the island of Hispaniola shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Meanwhile, rescue teams scoured eastern Mexico in search for victims after Hurricane Karl hit the area as a powerful category three storm on Friday. It quickly dissipated over local mountain ranges.
In Puebla state, a 61-year-old woman and a two-year-old girl were killed after the roof of their house collapsed on them, authorities said.
The storm came as Mexico reeled under one of its wettest seasons on record, forcing oil rigs to be evacuated and a nuclear plant to be shut down. The hurricane hit north of the port of Veracruz, striking land just four miles (seven kilometers) from the nuclear power station.
As officials opened shelters with room for thousands of people, many hunkered down in their homes, sticking adhesive tape on windows and blocking doors with furniture.
Filemon Calderon said his wooden house collapsed in Las Higueras village overnight, after he had tried to reinforce it with old mattresses. "It fell on us. The beds and our furniture were soaked," the 59-year-old said.
Still reeling from major flooding earlier this month that left 25 people dead and affected nearly a million more, Mexican officials posted storm warnings for the Gulf coast and central states.
"It's the first time in at least 30 years that we're experiencing such a powerful phenomenon," said Veracruz state weather services chief Federico Acevedo.
Roads were closed in the north of Veracruz and the international airport suspended flights.
Mexican state oil giant Pemex evacuated Gulf oil platforms and stopped production at 14 wells.
The storm hit during an especially active hurricane season in the region.
Lined up behind Igor was Julia, which has weakened to a tropical storm out in the Atlantic with no current threats to land.
The last time so many major storms churned in the Atlantic basin at the same time was in September 1998, when there were four hurricanes, including Georges, which killed more than 600 people and caused nearly six billion dollars in damage.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted an especially stormy 2010, with 14 to 23 named storms for this season, including eight to 14 hurricanes.
On average, there are 11 named storms, six of which become hurricanes, in the six-month season which ends on November 30.