Omar Hits Category 3 Status

Omar, a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds, raced across the Caribbean early Thursday, endangering the Northern Leeward Islands and U.S. Virgin Islands.

At 1 a.m. AST, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Omar also was threatening the islands of Vieques and Culebra and hurricane warnings also were in effect for St. Martin/Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barthelemy, the British Virgin Islands and Anguilkla.

Other Caribbean locales were under hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings, including Puerto Rico and the islands of St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Barbuda and Montserrat.

Omar’s eye was about 25 miles east-northeast of St. Croix and about 75 miles west-southwest of St. Martin. The hurricane was surging northeastward at about 20 miles per hour and was expected to continue on that general track for the next couple of days, the hurricane center said.

Omar was expected to travel between the Virgin Islands and the Northern Leeward Islands in the pre-dawn hours Thursday, possibly picking up strength as it goes, the forecasters said.

Hurricane force winds extended up to 35 miles from Omar’s center and tropical force winds were reaching out up to 115 miles.

Rainfall of 5-10 inches was expected across the Northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Vieques and Culebra with up to 20 inches possible. Lesser amounts were expected elsewhere in the region.

The rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, the forecasters warned, along with coastal storm surges of 4-6 feet above normal tide.