Antigua Barbuda Online Operations Bashed By Hurricane Earl

Antigua, Barbuda is home to the servers for a few large scale online gambling operators. The tropics are known for their vulnerable position in the world as areas prone to hurricanes and possible earthquakes.
Reports have just surfaced today, August 30th  2k10 that a major power outage on the island of Antigua has resulted in some online gambling websites experiencing service interruptions.
Antigua based Intertops.com, a well used internet sports betting site, and its Red Casino arm has been knocked offline due to the storm. An Intertops advisory read, "Please be advised that as a direct result of Hurricane Earl, we have suffered a major power outage in Antigua and the Intertops.com website and all its services are currently down. We are diligently working round the clock to restore our services to you our valued customer and will send notification via e-mail as soon as we are back online. Thank you for your understanding and patience in this situation."
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Earl, which formed on Sunday, already had sustained winds of 175 kph and was likely to keep growing. In Antigua, powerful wind and rain destroyed at least one home and at least eight people had to be evacuated, though there were no reports of critical injuries. Emergency response officials said about 350 people were in shelters. Local weather authorities reported at least 13 centimetres of rain and 3-meter waves.
Hurricane center specialist Michael Brennan commented, "It is possible that Earl could become a Category 4 hurricane as we get into the middle to late portions of the week," Category 4 storms have sustained winds of at least 210 kph.
Antigua and Barbuda’s Governor General Dame Louise Lake  declared today a national holiday as residents clean and mop up from Hurricane Earl which pounded the twin island nation with heavy rains, widespread flooding and power outages. Electricity remained off up to 10:30 am as officials at the Antigua Public Utilities Authority meet to determine when power will be restored.