Hurricane Felix when it suddenly veered away from its collision course with the Island.

However, it still felt the force of hurricane-strength winds for more than eight hours as Felix flexed its muscles and residents and emergency services woke yesterday facing the task of mopping up the damage caused by gales and rain.

High winds brought down trees, smashed boats and damaged hotels. About 18,000 homes were left without electricity and St. George's was cut off for a time due to damage to the Causeway.

The cost of damage to the Island was estimated at more than $2.5 million by some insurers and the cost to the local economy could be as high as $2 million through lost trade as planes and cruise ships were unable to arrive.

Felix was meant to hit the Island late on Monday, but veered off, getting to within 50 nautical miles. At one stage it was predicted it would get within 14 miles.

Mr. Rick Fleetwood, of the Bermuda Weather Service, said the closest point of approach was at 9 p.m. on Monday and high winds lasted until about 5 a.m.

yesterday.

He said the average wind speed throughout the storm was 55 knots, but Harbour Radio recorded hurricane force winds of 65 knots with gusts of 80 knots. By yesterday morning, winds had fallen to about 35 knots.

However, Mr. Fleetwood said luckily there were no thunderstorms with Felix which would have forced the winds down to the surface.

"Up to about 500 feet above ground there were winds of about 80 and 90 knots, but with no thunderstorms they were not being forced down.

"We were very lucky really, although we did have the high tides at midnight on Monday going against us making the seas higher.'' Felix is now heading away from Bermuda and is almost certain not to return. It is now bearing down on the US East Coast where a hurricane watch has been posted.

Around the Island yesterday people woke to find cars smashed, trees down and scores of homes and boats damaged. Hundreds of people worked around the clock to clear up the mess.

Hardware stores, such as Standard Hardware which was operating by torchlight, were doing a brisk trade in camping stoves for cooking and tarpaulins to cover damage.

Fisherman Mr. Arthur Boyd Ray pointed out the remains of his friend's 75-year-old craft, Gone By , a family heirloom, berthed in Devonshire Bay. It had weathered Emily, but succumbed to Felix.

"That boat was built 70 to 75 years ago. There is an awful lot of history to that boat,'' he said. He managed to save his own craft after a four-hour struggle on a surge that swept him and his boat 35 feet over the shoreline.

Some residents on the Island also suffered from flooding and neighbour was helping neighbour bail. Some had as much as three feet of water.

The roof of Mrs. Verita Pacheco's home, in Pembroke, blew off and rain poured inside. "I couldn't go to sleep. We were just waiting for something to happen,'' she said.

In another incident, a Norfolk Island Pine crashed through the roof of Mrs.

Peggy Davis' house on South Shore Road.

"The main wall is cracked and there is a huge hole in the roof. There are other smaller ones from branches but those haven't come through the ceiling,'' she said.

At the Seawall Drive home of Bermuda Regiment Musical Director, Mr. Barritt Dill, ceilings collapsed.

"The roof collapsed on one side of the bedroom as I and my daughters were sleeping on the other side at about 2 a.m. After we came downstairs the ceiling in the second bedroom and the ceiling over the stairs came down in quick succession,'' he said.

At the hotels, damaged varied from rooms being flooded, parts of roofs blown off to mere power failures.

The worst affected was the Pink Beach Cottage Colony, where the owner Mr. W.A.

(Toppy) Cowen said damage would exceed the $450,000 caused by Hurricane Dean in 1989.

"We took pretty much of a hammering,'' said Mr. Cowen.

He said 40-foot waves destroyed a ten-foot seawall, smashed through patio doors and carried furniture out to sea. Sixteen rooms in four cottages were out of action.

The Governor, Lord Waddington, and Police Commissioner Mr. Colin Coxall both visited Pink Beach yesterday and Mr. Cowen said he had been inundated with offers of help.

"At times of crisis it's nice to have some friends out there,'' said Mr.

Cowen.

"A storm like this will put the fear of God into people,'' said Mr. Joe Denton, 84, of New York City, who had a ringside seat for the hurricane from his room at Pink Beach.

At Sonesta, some of the vinyl and shingles covering the roof were blown off, but the roof itself remained intact, said managing director Mr. David Boyd, who added that damage to the hotel was not significant.

The Grotto Bay Beach Hotel did not suffer any damage except the loss of electricity and guests had a "quiet night''.

Ariel Sands hotel just lost its statue of Ariel, but at Elbow Beach Hotel the General Manager, Mr. Perry Robinson, said "Mickey's'', the new beach restaurant, was completely swept away in the storm.

Marriott's Castle Harbour Resort suffered a few broken windows and lost balcony ceilings.

Other hotels -- that could be contacted -- reported losing foliage and electricity but little structural damage and their guests held up well. "This was nowhere near as bad as Hurricane Emily,'' a Fire Service spokesman said.

"The gusts didn't seem nearly as high.'' However, firefighters had 50 call-outs yesterday and at one stage there were just four men working as many were stuck in St. George's because of the Causeway damage.

No major accidents during storm From Page 1 Police also reported there were no major traffic accidents during the hurricane and no major incidents of crime.

Although structural damage appears to be considerably less than Emily in 1987, the cost to the Bermuda economy will be high.

On Monday and yesterday about 4,000 people would have arrived by air and around 5,000 people by cruise ships. Every cruise ship passenger spends an average of $161 and air visitors spend $220 each on average.

It could cost the economy as much as $2 million as no cruise ships will arrive this week. All went to different holiday resorts.

The airport will be back up and running today after gaining full operational status yesterday afternoon. Businesses, shops and banks are also due to re-open today and buses should be back on the roads.

Yesterday some Bank of Bermuda staff were called into work, angering employees and relatives.

One said he thought the bank's behaviour was "despicable'' and it only cared about making money. Another member of staff said they were given just 30 minutes notice to arrive by noon.

"That was ridiculous, especially as the Police were telling people to stay at home,'' she said.

The bank's executive vice-president, Mr. Louis Mowbray, said a decision was made to open for three hours because there were "a number of businesses and customers looking for banking services''.

He stressed only a skeleton staff was required to report for work.

Last night general manager of airport operations Mr. Jack Gordon, said "we are now open for business,'' although no flights were scheduled. The airport escaped virtually unscathed.

"As the weather clears and conditions improve we expect the next day or two to be very busy as airlines clear up the backlog,'' he added. In one case more than 500 Delta Airlines passengers were stranded for two days.

Flights will resume today and last night several airlines were saying extra planes would be laid on. Delta hopes to provide possibly two extra flights.

American Airlines was also laying on extra flights and it is expected the British Airways flight from London, due to land yesterday, will arrive today.

Hamilton is ready to receive workers as Corporation staff worked around the clock to clear roads and drains.