Message #108665

[Bianca]

                                 Weakening Omar moves through northern Caribbean
     






By STEVE BULLOCK, Associated Press …

CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands – Omar weakened into a tropical storm late Thursday as it moved out to sea after delivering a glancing blow to the U.S. Virgin Islands and lashing the most-populated island of St. Croix with rain.

Omar passed between St. Martin and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands early Thursday morning as a powerful hurricane, said Lixion Avila, a hurricane specialist with the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

"It could have been worse," Avila said. "They were very, very lucky."

Omar, which reached Category 3 status, knocked down trees, caused some flooding and minor mudslides in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but there were no immediate reports of deaths or major damage, said Mark Walters, director of the disaster management agency for the Caribbean territory.

A last-minute shift to the east spared St. Croix, the most populated of the islands.

Gov. John P. deJongh announced that a 6 p.m. curfew on Thursday for St. Croix that would be lifted Friday at 6 a.m. because electricity was still being restored. He said the power company was having problems repairing downed lines and poles because major roadways were still being cleared.

Public schools across St. Croix would remain closed on Friday.

The nearby British Virgin Islands emerged largely unscathed, said Deputy Gov. Inez Archibald, noting there was little damage beyond some mudslides and scattered debris.

"We did reasonably well actually," Inez told The Associated Press.

The island's international airport reopened Thursday afternoon, but the Virgin Gorda airport remained closed because of flooding.

At least 30 people were evacuated in Antigua, where emergency officials in boats rescued people stranded on their roofs as floodwaters rose and lifted some homes from their foundations.

Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer promised an investigation into why some areas flooded so quickly when safety measures should have prevented that from happening.

He also warned residents that local produce could become scarce and food prices could rise.

"Our farming community appears to have suffered extensive loss of crops," he said.

Omar weakened as it headed over the ocean and away from the Caribbean and U.S. mainland.

By late Thursday evening, it was a tropical storm centered about 715 miles southeast of Bermuda and was moving northeast at 25 mph. It had maximum winds of 70 mph.

On Thursday, cleanup crews fanned out across several flooded Caribbean islands, where power and water were slowly being restored.

Ports in Puerto Rico reopened, but remained closed in St. Croix.

In St. Maarten, roads were flooded and littered with tree branches and other debris, but authorities lifted a curfew Thursday afternoon and planned to reopen the main airport on Friday.

Two hotels — Divi Little Bay Beach Resort and Royal Islander Club — might close temporarily after heavy water and wind damage, said Robert Dubourcq, executive product manager for St. Maarten's Hospitality and Trade Association.

A disco and restaurant at the Caravanserai Resort were destroyed, and construction of 260 new rooms might be temporarily halted, he said.

One death was reported on Puerto Rico's tiny island of Culebra.

The island's Hovensa oil refinery, one of the 10 largest in the world, shut down operations for the storm.