HAMILTON, Bermuda -

Emergency services have been placed on alert and officials in Bermuda are reporting scattered power outages as Hurricane Joaquin lashes the island with winds and pelting rain.

[WEATHER INFO:  Live radar | Get alerts | Free Hurricane Tracker, Storm Tracking apps |  SHARE: Storm photos | Hurricane names of 2015 ]

Residents of the mid-Atlantic British dependency have hunkered down at home after stocking up on gas and batteries as the Category 2 hurricane whipped the mid-Atlantic British territory. All flights to L.F. Wade International Airport were canceled and ferry service was closed due to rough seas.

By late Sunday afternoon, sustained winds had dropped to 100 mph (155 kph) and forecasters described the storm's eye as "ragged."

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said isolated tornadoes were also possible.