Barely a single road on the Island is passable following Gonzalo, Police Commissioner Michael DeSilva said at 7.40am.

He advised the public to stay at home and said officers would be stopping drivers they saw on the roads.

Mr DeSilva said police had been out assessing damage from 3am and that the emergency services needed traffic-free roads to begin clear up.

Priority clearance areas include getting access to the hospital and the main roads from the east and west so emergency vehicles can pass.

“There are many places in Bermuda where you cannot get cars through ... places are completely blocked,” the Commissioner told the Emergency Broadcast Station.

“People have been cooped up for 18 hours or more and lots of people will be getting in cars and on bikes and heading out.

“Important things need to be done and we encourage everyone to stay off the road. The roads are so littered with debris and hardly any roads are two-way.

“There’s no way we can have traffic trying to travel in two directions.

“It’s not one or two [road blockages], it’s dozens of places.

“Police will be stopping motorists and checking to see where motorists are going and in most cases, unless it’s a life or death emergency — checking on your boat is not an emergency — we won’t let you pass.”