Hurricane Florence blew over Bermuda but spared the territory massive damage, with Canadian forecasters predicting it will pass close to Newfoundland's most populous region late Wednesday.

The Category 1 hurricane was about 280 kilometres north of Bermuda at 8 p.m. ET, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was travelling 25 kilometres an hour in a northeasterly direction.

Hurricane Florence, a problem for Bermuda on Monday, was expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain to eastern Newfoundland on Wednesday.
(NOAA)

Authorities in Bermuda reported a few minor injuries but no deaths, with the cleanup effort already beginning at several locations, including the runways of the island's major airport. 

Florence was packing maximum winds were near 135  km/h on Monday night, the centre said.

The hurricane is expected to bring heavy rain and very strong winds to most of eastern Newfoundland while passing just southeast of the Avalon Peninsula, federal meteorologists said. The peninsula is home to the provincial capital, St. John's, and about 40 per cent of the province's population.

Heavy swells and pounding surf are expected to hit Newfoundland's southeastern shore early Wednesday, setting the stage for more bad weather during the day.

By that time, Florence will probably be gearing down from a hurricane to a "very intense post-tropical storm," Environment Canada's Canadian Hurricane Centre said in a statement issued early Monday.

A post-tropical storm is a hurricane or tropical storm that moves into the mid-latitudes and begins losing its tropical characteristics. It tends to spread out, at which point the maximum wind speed falls and the distribution of wind, rain and temperature becomes uneven.

Rough surf for Nova Scotia coast

Florence is expected to bring rough surf to Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast on Tuesday as it passes well offshore.

Florence is rated a Category 1 hurricane, the mildest on a scale of one to five, but that does not mean it can't do a lot of damage.

It has knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses in Bermuda, the tiny British territory. Tourists who decided not to leave remain hunkered down in their hotels. Yacht owners have hauled their boats ashore.

Bermuda International Airport closed on Sunday and wasn't expected to re-open until Tuesday. Schools, shops and government offices were all closed for the day on Monday, and bus and ferry service around the chain of islands was cancelled.

Officials at the Bermuda Zoo said two pink flamingos died after being struck by broken tree branches.

Bermuda's 65,000 permanent residents had been told to expect up to 150 millimetres of rain and storm surges of 2.5 metres. Deputy premier Ewart Brown told a news conference Sunday the anticipated "ferocious impact" of Florence would serve as "a test of our resilience as a country."

The last major hurricane to hit Bermuda was Fabian in September 2003. Four people were killed and many houses lost their roofs.

Bermuda's building codes specify that homes must be built with walls at least 20 centimetres thick, and be able to withstand 240 km/h gusts and sustained winds of 117 km/h. Many power and phone lines are underground.

With files from the Associated Press