Premier Michael Dunkley is urging residents to “be prepared” ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Gonzalo forecast for this weekend.

He warned people not to be complacent about the storm and said weather was unpredictable — as demonstrated by Tropical Storm Fay.

“I think we’ve been complacent as a society — we look at what the Weather Service and the National Hurricane Centre says and take it as the Gospel path that a storm will take,” Mr Dunkley said in a video released by Government this evening.

He said Fay demonstrated how quickly storms could move from their forecast path and increase in intensity — as this storm did as it passed over the Island.

“To make it more difficult to prepare for that, it happened in the middle of the night,” Mr Dunkley said.

“Thankfully many Bermudians did prepare and we had no loss of life and only minor injuries.”

“The potential weather for this weekend shows that Gonzalo should be somewhere in the area.

“Predictions are still a number of days out for it to be very accurate but people should start to prepare — no one likes to run around at the last minute and make preparations for anything, and especially for a tropical storm or hurricane.

“I ask people to pay attention and act accordingly. Unfortunately with Fay there were people who knew about the warnings and didn’t even move a barbecue off the porch.

“We need to pay a bit more attention to that and always prepare for something to happen and if it doesn’t we’re lucky. I don’t think it’s good not prepare and think it’s going to veer away or have a minimal impact.

“We will be warning people and hopefully people will prepare.

“Government is ready and will continue to be in that state of readiness. We will do everything we can but I don’t want people to panic.

“The storm could track well away from Bermuda or could cause us some problems.

“Listen to messages from the Bermuda Weather Service and EMO [Emergency Measures Organisation]. Be prepared and pay attention.”

Mr Dunkley praised the “great job” of the Regiment, Parks Department and Works and Engineering in clearing debris from roads and carrying out repairs.

He said he expected Harbour Road to be open from Tuesday morning but said schools would remain closed because about 13 still had no power and staff needed time to clear up and be ready for pupils’ return.

Mr Dunkley also hit back at criticism of how the EMO had handled the storm.

“I’ve been aware of some criticism,” he said. “When hurricane season starts the EMO becomes prepared at that time.

“The EMO has continued to meet and be in a state of readiness.”

Mr Dunkley said the summer’s high rainfall had led to extra vegetation growth and moister soil, making trees more susceptible to being uprooted.

“Thankfully Bermudians have come together and we’re cleaning up from this mess,” he added.