TOA BAJA, Puerto Rico—Ernesto strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday as it dropped torrential rain on Puerto Rico and left nearly half of all customers in the U.S. territory without power as it threatened to become a major storm en route to Bermuda.
The storm was located about 720 miles (1,160 kilometers) south-southwest of Bermuda and was moving over open waters. It had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and was moving northwest at 16 mph (26 kph).
