MIAMI, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Hurricane Michelle, which left five dead in Cuba and heavy flooding in the Bahamas, sped out to sea Tuesday with winds of 75 mph and was expected to swing south of Bermuda and disappear over the cold northern waters of the Atlantic, forecasters said.
Cuban authorities said four of those killed died in building collapses, and one victim was 60-year-old man who drowned in the storm surge.
Cuban officials said there was significant damage to the island's sugar, citrus, banana and coffee crops. As many as 750,000 people were evacuated to shelters and 740,000 animals were moved.
Although the central provinces were hit hard with winds of more than 130 mph and most of the island was left without electricity and running water, the city of Havana was mostly spared.
President Fidel Castro inspected the damage in some of the hardest hit areas. He said Cubans would survive the storm because they were well organized and experienced in preparing for hurricanes.
"Fortunately it crossed rapidly," Castro said. "We will overcome this problem no matter how big the damage. For us, victory means having a minimum loss of life."
The storm moved into the Florida Straits Monday morning, traveling south of the Florida Keys and Miami and leaving the area largely unscathed except for exacerbating beach erosion, a problem for the last two weeks.
But when Michelle arrived in the Bahamas with 85 mph winds and torrents of rain, flood damage was heavy. Flooding was as deep as three feet in the streets of the capitol city of Nassau. One wind gust in Nassau was clocked at 103 mph.
The rains washed out many major roads, ripped storm shutters off buildings, snapped road signs and tossed trees and branches across streets.
Power was reported out in several islands and some residents said with all the rain, it was worse than Hurricane Andrew in 1992. There were no deaths reported, but not all locations have been about to get any word out.
Michelle was expected to spare Bermuda, however, and then lose its tropical status.
At 10 a.m. EST Tuesday, it was located at latitude 27.5 north, 68.4 west, or about 400 miles southwest of Bermuda. It was moving east-northeast at 24 mph.
"On this track, the center of Michelle will be passing well south of Bermuda tonight," said forecaster Lixion Avila of the National Hurricane Center.
A tropical storm warning remained in effect for the British resort island.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Noel, the season's eighth hurricane that developed Monday, was expected to meet a rapid death. It was located at latitude 44.0 north, longitude 48.2 west or about 295 miles southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Forecasters said it was dissipating and becoming an area of low pressure.
