Officials in Bermuda were not immediately reachable for comment Saturday.

But the local Royal Gazette daily reported, citing a government official, that four people, including two police officers, had disappeared when their vehicles were swept into the ocean as they attempted to cross a causeway that connects the main island with Bermuda's airport.

It was unclear if the airport would reopen to flights Saturday.

Hospitals were treating many people for light wounds, including some who were struck by objects tossed around by Fabian's ferocious winds.

The worst was over by 5:00 am (0900 GMT), as the Category 3 hurricane headed out to the open ocean in a northeasterly direction, traveling at 33 kilometers (21 miles) per hour, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.

At that time, the center of Fabian was located some 390 kilometersmiles) northeast of Bermuda, with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour. At its height, gusts reached as high as 213 kilometers (132 miles) an hour.

The hurricane was expected to weaken as it moved out over colder ocean waters.

The Royal Gazette reported that Bermuda government spokesman John Burchall said the lingering after-effects of the hurricane were hampering rescue operations.

"This storm is the most powerful one we've seen in years," Burchall said, adding that "the (storm) surge and debris are making it incredibly difficult to do search and rescue operations."

Many of the vacation spot's golf courses were reportedly damaged by the hurricane, which also tore a satellite dish and other instruments used by Bermuda's Weather Service from their moorings.

Tourist Robert O'Leary, 59, of Centerville, Nova Scotia, told the Royal Gazette that he was in Bermuda visiting his pregnant daughter, who was a week late delivering her baby.

"We'll call the baby Fabian, I guess," O'Leary quipped.

The powerful hurricane winds that slammed the island overnight Friday and into early Saturday ripped roofs off buildings and left thousands without power, according to television news reports.

Many streets were also reportedly impassable because of downed trees and debris.

Although Bermuda has not witnessed a Category 3 hurricane since 1953, when Hurricane Edna hit the archipelago, the British dependency requires new homes to be built to withstand sustained winds of 161 kilometers an hour (100 miles an hour).

TERRA.WIRE