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Sunday, August 23, 2009 MIAMI: Hurricane Bill, the first of the Atlantic storm season, barreled past Bermuda and churned toward the US and Canadian east coasts Saturday, sparking fears of life-threatening rip currents. Packing winds of 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour, with higher gusts, the storm was set to head close to the upscale island resort of Martha's Vineyard, where US President Barack Obama and his family are heading for vacation Sunday. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned Saturday "large swells generated by Hurricane Bill are still affecting the Bahamas and Bermuda and the southeast coast of the United States. "Large swells will begin to affect much of the remainder of the US east coast and the Atlantic maritimes of Canada later today and Sunday. These swells will likely cause extremely dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents," it warned. Bill is a Category Two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, meaning the storm threatens to cause

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 MIAMI: Hurricane Bill was upgraded to a major Category Three hurricane Tuesday as its sustained winds increased to near 125 miles (205 kilometers) per hour, the National Hurricane Center said. A hurricane hunter plane that flew into the Atlantic storm indicated "that Bill has strengthened and maximum sustained winds have increased to near 125 MPH," the center said in an advisory. That made Bill "a Category 3 Hurricane on the Saffir/Simpson hurricane scale," it said.