Hurricane Gonzalo was speeding across the cold waters of the far north Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, meteorologists said, leaving Bermuda to clean up from a direct hit of howling winds and driving rain.

The storm knocked out power and downed trees but caused no catastrophic damage or death on the Atlantic archipelago, a tourist destination and affluent insurance industry hub about 640 miles (1,030 km) off the coast of North Carolina.

Gonzalo was moving quickly less than 300 miles northeast of St. John's in Newfoundland, Canada, at midday on Sunday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Having slowed down since slamming Bermuda, Gonzalo was still packing maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour (137 kph), it said.

"Gonzalo remains a hurricane over the cold waters of the far north Atlantic," the hurricane center said in an advisory.

"Gradual weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours," and a downgrade was likely, it said.

Large swells generated by the storm still affected parts of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Bahamas and U.S. eastern seaboard, it said. It warned that such swells would likely cause life-threatening surf and rip tides.

Gonzalo was the strongest storm to sweep the subtropical British territory of Bermuda in a decade with maximum sustained winds of around 110 mph (175 kph) when it made landfall on Friday night.

Many trees were knocked down and there was extensive property damage across the islands, including roof damage and flooding at the main hospital.

One-third of customers remained without power as of midday on Sunday. Bermuda Electric Light Co. said 12,000 of its 36,000 metered connections were still without electricity.

Bermuda's LF Wade International Airport was slated to be reopened by early Sunday evening, authorities said.

The Bermuda Tourism Authority told the Bermuda's Royal Gazette that cruise ships that planned to dock there were canceled through Monday.

The Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo reported substantial damage, including a roof torn off an exhibit and serious coastal erosion, but all its animals were safe.