Miami, Muharram 13, 1438, Oct 14, 2016, SPA -- Powerful Hurricane Nicole snapped trees, flooded homes, and pulled roofs off buildings as it pummeled the British territory of Bermuda on Thursday as an extremely dangerous category-3 storm. The hurricane hit the wealthy island in the Atlantic Ocean in the late morning with maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour (kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC). There was a brief respite across Bermuda as the eye of the hurricane passed by, but government officials urged everyone to remain indoors. “This is a serious storm, and it’s living up to the weather predictions,” National Security Minister Jeff Baron said in Hamilton. “The worst is not over.” By mid-afternoon, Nicole was about 145 kilometers northeast of Bermuda with winds of 185 kph and was moving to the northeast near 30 kph. Even after the strongest part of the storm passed, Nicole continued to bring storm-surge flooding to the island, the NHC said. The hurricane knocked out power to more than 20,000 customers in Bermuda, which has sturdy infrastructure and is accustomed to storms. Nicole strengthened to a category-4 storm late Wednesday but lost some intensity overnight. However, forecasters warned it still was extremely dangerous. “While hurricanes often affect Bermuda, a hurricane this strong is rare,” the NHC said. --SPA 14:13 LOCAL TIME 11:13 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w