HURRICANE SEASON 2008

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                                      AP Investigation: Ike environmental toll apparent






By DINA CAPPIELLO,
FRANK BASS and
CAIN BURDEAU,

Associated Press Writers
Mon Oct 6, 2008
 
WASHINGTON - Hurricane Ike's winds and massive waves destroyed oil platforms, tossed storage tanks and punctured pipelines. The environmental damage only now is becoming apparent: At least a half million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes, bayous and bays of Louisiana and Texas, according to an analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.
 
In the days before and after the deadly storm, companies and residents reported at least 448 releases of oil, gasoline and dozens of other substances into the air and water and onto the ground in Louisiana and Texas. The hardest hit places were industrial centers near Houston and Port Arthur, Texas, as well as oil production facilities off Louisiana's coast, according to the AP's analysis.

"We are dealing with a multitude of different types of pollution here ... everything from diesel in the water to gasoline to things like household chemicals," said Larry Chambers, a petty officer with the U.S. Coast Guard Command Center in Pasadena, Texas.

The Coast Guard, with the Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies, has responded to more than 3,000 pollution reports associated with the storm and its surge along the upper Texas coast. Most callers complain about abandoned propane tanks, paint cans and other hazardous materials containers turning up in marshes, backyards and other places.

No major oil spills or hazardous materials releases have been identified, but nearly 1,500 sites still need to be cleaned up.

The Coast Guard's National Response Center in Washington collects information on oil spills and chemical and biological releases and passes it to agencies working on the ground. The AP analyzed all reports received by the center from Sept. 11 through Sept. 18 for Louisiana and Texas, providing an early snapshot of Ike's environmental toll.

With the storm approaching, refineries and chemical plants shut down as a precaution, burning off hundreds of thousands of pounds of organic compounds and toxic chemicals. In other cases, power failures sent chemicals such as ammonia directly into the atmosphere. Such accidental releases probably will not result in penalties by regulators because the releases are being blamed on the storm.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry also suspended all rules, including environmental ones, that would inhibit or prevent companies preparing for or responding to Ike.

Power outages also caused sewage pipes to stop flowing. Elsewhere, the storm's surge dredged up smelly and oxygen-deprived marsh mud, which killed fish and caused residents to complain of nausea and headaches from the odor.

At times, a new spill or release was reported to the Coast Guard every five minutes to 10 minutes. Some were extremely detailed, such as this report from Sept. 14: "Caller is making a report of a 6-by-4-foot container that was found floating in the Houston Ship Channel. Caller states the container was also labeled 'UM 3264,' which is a corrosive material." The caller most likely meant UN3264, an industrial coding that refers to a variety of different acids.

State and federal officials have collected thousands of abandoned drums, paint cans and other containers.

Other reports were more vague. One caller reported a sheen from an underwater pipeline and said the substance was "spewing" from the pipe.

The AP's analysis found that, by far, the most common contaminant left in Ike's wake was crude oil — the lifeblood and main industry of both Texas and Louisiana. In the week of reports analyzed, enough crude oil was spilled nearly to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and more could be released, officials said, as platforms and pipelines were turned back on.

The Minerals Management Service, which oversees oil production in federal waters offshore, said the storm destroyed at least 52 oil platforms of roughly 3,800 in the Gulf of Mexico. Thirty-two more were severely damaged. But there was only one confirmed report of an oil spill — a leak of 8,400 gallons that officials said left no trace because it dissipated with the winds and currents.

Air contaminants were the second-most common release, mostly from the chemical plants and refineries along the coast.

About half the crude oil was reported spilled at a facility operated by St. Mary Land and Exploration Co. on Goat Island, Texas, a spit of uninhabited land north of the heavily damaged Bolivar Peninsula. The surge from the storm flooded the plant, leveling its dirt containment wall and snapping off the pipes connecting its eight storage tanks, which held the oil and water produced from two wells in Galveston Bay.

By the time the company reached the wreckage by boat more than 24 hours after Ike's landfall, the tanks were empty. Only a spattering of the roughly 266,000 gallons of oil spilled was left, and that is already cleaned up, according to Greg Leyendecker, the company's regional manager. The rest vanished, likely into the Gulf of Mexico.

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Ike's fury might have helped prevent worse environmental damage. Its rough water, heavy rains
and wind helped disperse pollution.

Air quality tests by Texas environmental regulators found no problems even in communities near industrial complexes, where power outages and high winds in some cases knocked out emergency devices that safely burn off chemicals. But the storm also zapped many of the state's permanent
air pollution monitors in the region.

"We came out of this a lot better than we could have been, especially thinking where the storm hit," said Kelly Cook, the homeland security coordinator for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Katrina ranked as among the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, with about 9 million gallons of oil spilled. But Ike's storm surge was less severe than feared — 12 feet rather than 20-feet plus — and the dikes, levees and bulkheads built around the region's heavy industry mostly held.

Much of that infrastructure is protected by a 1960s-era Army Corps of Engineers system of 15-foot levees similar to the one around New Orleans that failed catastrophically during Katrina. In that storm, floodwaters dislodged an oil tank at a Murphy Oil Corp. refinery in Meraux, La., spilling more than 1 million gallons of oil into the surrounding neighborhoods, canals and playgrounds.

Ike's toll on wildlife is still unfolding. Only a few pelicans and osprey turned up oiled, but the storm upended nature. Winds blew more than 1,000 baby squirrels from their nests. The storm's surge
pushed saltwater into freshwater marshes and bayous, killing grasses where cattle graze and
displacing alligators. Flooding also stranded cows.

The storm also may mangle migration. The Texas coast is a pit stop for birds heading south for
the winter. But Ike wiped out many of their food sources, stripping berries from trees and nectar-
producing flowers from plants, said Gina Donovan, executive director of the Houston Audubon
Society, which operates 17 bird sanctuaries in Texas.

"It is going to cause wildlife to suffer for awhile," she said.

Along the Houston Ship Channel, a tanker truck floating in 12-feet-high flood waters slammed into
a storage tank at the largest biodiesel refinery in the country, causing a leak of roughly 2,100 gallons
of vegetable oil. The plant, owned by GreenHunter Energy Inc., uses chicken fat and beef tallow to make biodiesel shipped overseas. It opened just months earlier.

Oneal Galloway of Slidell, La., called to report oil in his neighborhood. The town, north of Lake Pontchartrain, was flooded with Ike's surge. He said oil had washed down the streets.

"It looked like a rainbow in the water," Galloway told the AP. "The residue of the oil is all over our fences, there were brown spots in the yard where it killed the grass."

The likely culprit was not a refinery or oil well, according to Shannon Davis, the director of the parish's public works department, but a neighbor brewing biodiesel in his backyard with used cooking grease.

___

Cain Burdeau reported from Texas.

___




On the Net:


Multi-agency Post-Hurricane Ike Pollution Response: http://strikeforcenews.com/go/site/771/



National Response Center: http://www.nrc.uscg.mil 

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                                        Tropical Storm Norbert strengthens off Mexico





24 minutes ago
Oct. 6, 2008
Yahoo News
 
MEXICO CITY - Tropical Storm Norbert is growing toward hurricane force off Mexico's Pacific coast and fore-
casters say it might bring weekend rains and wind to the Baja California Peninsula.
 
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Norbert is centered about 325 miles (525 kilometers) south
of Manzanillo and is moving west at near 8 mph (13 kph). Maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph (100 kph).

It's expected to strengthen and turn toward the northwest. Forecasters say it may near southern Baja California on the weekend, but it's likely to slip below hurricane force first.

Meanwhile Monday, former Tropical Storm Marie faded to a tropical depression far out in the Pacific.

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                                       Tropical Storm Marco closing in on Mexico's coast





By MIGUEL ANGEL HERNANDEZ,
Associated Press Writer
Tue Oct 7, 2008
 
VERACRUZ, Mexico - Tropical Storm Marco was closing in on Mexico's coast early Tuesday and threatened to hit with near-hurricane strength winds later in the day.
 
Marco was a small tropical storm with winds extending out only up to 15 miles (30 km) from the center, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

In the Gulf of Mexico, the country's state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said Monday it had evacuated 33 workers from four offshore platforms, closed six wells and shut down a natural gas processing plant in Veracruz state ahead of Marco's arrival.

A hurricane watch was in effect for Mexico's Gulf Coast from Cabo Rojo south to Veracruz, and a tropical storm warning was in effect for the coast from Cabo Rojo south to Punta El Lagarto.

Marco had maximum sustained winds near 65 mph (100 kph). The storm was centered about 130 miles (215 km) east-southeast of Tuxpan, Mexico, at 2 a.m. EDT Tuesday. The storm was moving west-northwest near 7 mph (11 kph).

Mexico's Communications and Transportation Department on Monday ordered the closure to small vessels of the Gulf ports of Nautla and Alvarado.

Veracruz state authorities were setting up shelters and preparing to evacuate communities in low-lying areas still trying to recovering from heavy flooding caused by heavy rains last week.

Ranulfo Marquez, the state's top civil protection official, said 68 shelters would remain open in southern Veracruz, where rain-swollen rivers jumped their banks leaving the towns of Minatitlan and Hidalgotitlan under 10 feet (3 meters).

"This will be a strong phenomenon (for the state), especially taking into account that we already have 43 rivers that have overflowed," Marquez said.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Mexico, Norbert strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane over the Pacific Ocean late Monday but forecasters said it was not expected to threaten land. The hurricane center said the hurricane was located 315 miles (510 kilometers) south-southwest of the port city of Manzanillo.

Norbert — the seventh hurricane of the Pacific season — had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), and was moving west-northwest at 8 mph (13 kph).

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                                                   Tropical storm Marco hits Mexico





Tue Oct 7, 2008
 
MIAMI (AFP) - Tropical storm Marco made landfall in Mexico Tuesday, crashing ashore as the latest in a series of powerful storms to strike the region this hurricane season, US forecasters said.
 
Marco quickly traversed the Gulf of Mexico before barreling ashore about 55 miles (90 kilometers) north-northwest of Veracruz, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

The storm has maximum sustained winds of some 65 miles (100 kilometers) per hour and is traveling in a west-northwest direction at about eight miles (13 kilometers) per hour as it moves towards Mexico's interior, where NHC forecasters said it was likely to dissipate Wednesday.

Marco is the latest in a succession of storms to batter the Gulf of Mexico during the busy 2008 hurricane season, including devastating Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which caused millions of dollars in damage in Haiti, Cuba and the United States.

Tropical storm Julio in late August killed one person north Mexico and damaged roads and homes as it swept through the northwestern state of Baja California.

In July, Hurricane Dolly also caused one fatality in Mexico after dumping rain over Texas and Mexico after pummeling the Gulf coast.

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                                       Hurricane Norbert becomes Category 3 storm






By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ,
Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 8, 2008
 
MEXICO CITY - Hurricane Norbert strengthened Wednesday to a Category 3 storm in the Pacific
Ocean and was forecast to hit Mexico's Baja California peninsula by the weekend.
 
The hurricane was expected to turn Thursday toward the northeast on a path that could take it
over the southern Baja peninsula and the Mexican mainland, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in
Miami said.

Norbert's maximum sustained winds were near 115 mph (185 kph) and were expected to strengthen further.

At 5 a.m. EDT, the storm was centered about 470 miles (755 kilometers) south of the southern tip
Baja California and was moving west-northwest near 10 mph (17 kph).

In Mexico's Gulf coast, another storm system, Marco, weakened late Tuesday into a tropical de-
pression after slamming into land as a tropical storm with near hurricane-force winds.

Mexico's state oil company had a shutdown of some oil platforms in the gulf and evacuated some
3,000 people before Marco hit the coast about 55 miles (90 kilometers) north of Veracruz.

Marco appeared to have largely spared water-logged southern Veracruz state, where rain-swollen
rivers jumped their banks, leaving the towns of Minatitlan and Hidalgotitlan under 10 feet (3 meters)
of water last week.

Veracruz state authorities closed schools and set up some 200 shelters, while soldiers and rescue officials bused people from low-lying communities.

In northern Veracruz state, authorities evacuated a hospital in the town of Misantla, where two overflowing rivers threatened with flooding it.

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                                         Hurricane warning issued ahead of Norbert




 

Oct. 10, 2008
Yahoo News
MIAMI - A hurricane warning has been issued for the west coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula as a weakened Hurricane Norbert churns in the Pacific.

 
The warning area goes from Punta Andresito to Agua Blanca in Mexico.

By early Friday, Norbert's maximum sustained winds had decreased to 85 mph (140 kph). The hurricane is heading north-northwest but is expected to turn north-northeast during the day and head toward Mexico's coast.

Norbert is centered about 315 miles (510 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California.

Meanwhile, southeast of Norbert, Tropical Storm Odile has gotten better organized. Odile's maximum sustained winds are near 60 mph (95 kph) with strengthening expected. The storm is centered about 105 miles (170 kilometers) south of Puerto Angel, Mexico.

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                                     Hurricane Norbert slams into Mexico's Baja coast






By KIRSTEN JOHNSON,
Associated Press Writer
Oct. 11, 2008
 
PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico - Hurricane Norbert slammed into Mexico's southern Baja California peninsula on Saturday with torrential rains and screaming winds, forcing scores of people to flee flooded homes.
 
Norbert, a Category 2 storm with winds of up to 105 mph (165 kph), hit land near Puerto Charley on the southwest coast of Baja California, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

It was sweeping over a sparsely populated stretch of the peninsula, and was expected to cross the Gulf of California before making a second landfall Saturday night on northwestern Mexico's mainland — likely as a hurricane, the center said.

Baja residents fled to shelters in school buses and army trucks as floodwaters rose in their homes. Winds uprooted palm trees and the water rose knee-high in some streets of the town of Puerto San Carlos.

"We left our house because we were scared. Our house is pretty poor and the water was already coming in," said Maria Espinosa, 54, who arrived at a high school with her daughter and two grandchildren. They joined about 60 other people sitting on foam mattresses and blankets.

Streets became rushing, knee-deep rivers in Ciudad Constitucion, a town less than 50 miles (80 kilometers) inland in the southern peninsula. Furniture, car parts and trash cans floated down the roads, which were deserted except for a few patrolling police trucks and a soaked dog wandering down an elevated sidewalk.

The storm was passing well north of the resort-dotted Los Cabos on the southern tip of the peninsula, but its course was taking it near Loreto, a small town popular with tourists on the peninsula's east coast, which was under a hurricane warrning from Loreto south to La Paz.

The government also issued hurricane warnings along the coast of the northwestern, mainland border state of Sonora.

Authorities started evacuating people from low-lying areas in Sonora and opened 60 shelters capable of housing more than 6,000 people, said Willebaldo Alatriste, the state's civil protection director.

"We're ready for the impact at any moment," Alatriste said.

As of 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), the hurricane's center was located about 55 miles (85 kilometers) southeast of Cabo San Lazaro, Mexico, and was moving northeast at 15 mph (24 kph).

The storm's remnants were expected to continue to dump rain on water-logged West Texas, where authorities prepared for more flooding.

State and local officials plan to activate an emergency operations center Monday in Presidio, where an earthen levee is struggling to hold back the swollen Rio Grande.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Odile hugged the southwest coast of Mexico.

Civil Protection officials in Guerrero state urged about 10,000 people living along river banks or other dangerous areas to evacuate.

Mudslides and fallen trees blocked roads, and 150 homes were under 13 feet (4 meters) of water in El Paraiso, a small town north of Acapulco, officials said.

Odile was located about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Zihuatenejo, a resort town north of Acapulco and was moving northwest at about 13 mph (20 kph). Odile could become a hurricane, and a small deviation in its path could bring the storm inland, the hurricane center said.

A hurricane watch was in effect from Manzanillo to Zihuatanejo, a resort town north of Acapulco. A tropical storm warning was in effect from Tecpan de Galeana to Manzanillo, as Odile moved parallel to the Pacific coast with winds of about 65 mph (100 kph).

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                                      Norbert weakens to tropical storm over Mexico






By KIRSTEN JOHNSON,
Associated Press Writer
56 minutes ago
Oct. 12, 2008

PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico - After making landfall over mainland Mexico, Norbert weakened Sunday from a hurricane to a tropical storm, weather officials said.
 
Norbert made landfall over mainland Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane with winds near 85 mph (140 kph) early Sunday morning, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

But those winds had weakened to near 40 mph (65 kph) and Norbert was expected to rapidly weaken to a tropical depression later Sunday morning, the Miami-based center said.

Hurricane warnings for the coast of Mexico have been discontinued, the center said.

At 8 a.m. Sunday, Norbert's center was located about 70 miles (110 kilometers) west-southwest of Chihuahua and was moving northeast near 21 mph (34 kph). The storm or its remnants were expected to reach western Texas and New Mexico later on Sunday.

Hurricane Norbert made landfall over mainland Mexico early Sunday morning about 25 miles (35 kilometers) southeast of Huatabampo, the center said.

The storm moved over the Mexican mainland after tearing off roofs and forcing hundreds of people to flee widespread flooding on the Baja California peninsula.

It hit land Saturday near Puerto Charley on Baja's southwest coast as a Category 2 hurricane, but weakened to Category 1 after emerging over the Gulf of California, the center said.

Baja residents fled to shelters in school buses and army trucks as floodwaters rose in their homes. Winds uprooted palm trees and the water rose knee-high in some streets of the town of Puerto San Carlos.

"We left our house because we were scared. Our house is pretty poor and the water was already coming in," said Maria Espinosa, 54, who arrived at a high school with her daughter and two grandchildren. They joined about 60 other people sitting on foam mattresses and blankets.

Streets turned into rushing, knee-deep rivers in Ciudad Constitucion, on the southern peninsula. Furniture, car parts and trash cans floated down the roads that were deserted except for a few police patrols and a soaked dog on high ground.

More than 2,000 people were in the city's shelters, many of them from coastal villages where nearly all homes had lost their roofs, said Miguel Arevalos, the local Civil Protection director.

"We came here because our roof is gone, the wind ripped it off," said Luis Mesa, 39, taking shelter at an elementary school after fleeing his village of Pueblo Nuevo. "They said on the radio it was going to get really ugly."

Early Sunday, the storm had passed over the Gulf of California away from the peninsula and was moving toward the mainland. The storm passed far north of the peninsula's resort-studded Los Cabos.

Authorities evacuated people from low-lying areas in Sonora state and opened 60 shelters capable of holding more than 6,000 people, said Willebaldo Alatriste, the state's civil protection director.

Robert Fernandez, sales manager of the Paradiso Resort and Beach Club in Sonora's popular vacation town of San Carlos, said the hotel set up sandbags along the beach, reinforced its windows and warned visitors against swimming in the ocean.

"But we don't think it will be too bad," he said.

The storm's remnants were expected to continue to dump rain on water-logged West Texas, where authorities prepared for more flooding.

State and local officials plan to activate an emergency operations center Monday in Presidio, where an earthen levee is struggling to hold back the swollen Rio Grande.

Meanwhile, a weakening Tropical Storm Odile hugged the southwest coast of Mexico.

Civil Protection officials in Guerrero state urged about 10,000 people living along river banks or other dangerous areas to evacuate.

Mudslides and fallen trees blocked roads, and 150 homes were under 13 feet (4 meters) of water in El Paraiso, a small town north of Acapulco, officials said.

Odile's estimated center was located about 45 miles (70 kilometers) west of Manzanillo and was moving north-northwest near 12 mph (19 kph). It carried sustained winds of about 40 mph (65 kph) but forecasters said it was quickly becoming disorganized.

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                                     Tropical system near storm strength in Caribbean






52 minutes ago
Oct. 14, 2008
 
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday the season's latest tropical depression was expected to become Tropical Storm Omar later today as it neared at least 39 mile-per-hour maximum sustained winds.
 
As of 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT), Tropical Depression 15 was about 360 miles southwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and about 140 miles north of Curacao, moving southeast at nearly 3 mph, packing maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, the NHC said.

Forecast tracks showed the system crossing Puerto Rico and heading northeast out into the Atlantic.

The system was spreading heavy rains over the Netherlands Antilles and a tropical storm watch was in effect for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the eastern Dominican Republic.

The next advisory on Tropical Depression 15 will be issued by the NHC at 11 a.m.

Tropical Depression Nana, meanwhile, dissipated early Tuesday well east of the Northern Leeward Islands, but a well-defined area of low pressure in the western Caribbean about 60 miles northeast of the Nicaragua-Honduras border became better organized, the NHC said.

The low pressure system could become a tropical depression later Tuesday if it remains over water.

The NHC said an Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft would investigate the system late Tuesday to better estimate its strength.

Another weak area of low pressure located south-southeast of the remnants of Nana, well west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands, was expected to encounter unfavorable upper-level winds and not develop further.

None of the systems were expected to pose any threat to oil and gas producing regions in the Gulf of Mexico.



(Reporting by Eileen Moustakis; Editing by John Picinich)

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                                         Tropical Storm Omar strengthens in Caribbean






36 minutes ago

Yahoo News
Oct. 14, 2008
 
MIAMI - The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Omar is gaining strength as it pelts the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.
 
Omar formed Tuesday in the eastern Caribbean and is expected to continue strengthening over the next 48 hours.

A tropical storm watch was in effect for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the far eastern portion of the Dominican Republic.

At 2 p.m. EDT, the storm had top sustained winds near 50 mph. Its center was about 375 miles south-southwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and moving southeast near 5 mph. It is expected to gain speed and turn northeast on Wednesday.

A new tropical depression also formed Tuesday and was moving slowly off the coast of northeastern Honduras.

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                                                   Omar becomes a hurricane




 
CNN News
Oct. 14, 2008
   
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Omar strengthen to a hurricane Tuesday night as it churned in Caribbean waters near Puerto Rico, the National Hurricane Center said.


At 8 p.m., Omar was 335 miles south-southwest of Puerto Rico.

 Omar formed Tuesday in the eastern Caribbean and dumped heavy rain on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao off the coast of Venezuela. At 11 p.m. ET, its center was about 315 miles (505 km) south-southwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The storm was moving northeast near 6 mph (9 kph).

Omar's maximum sustained winds were 75 mph (120 kph), making it a minimal Category 1 hurricane. Hurricane force winds extended outward up to 15 miles (30 km) from Omar's center. Tropical storm-force winds extend 90 miles (145 km) from Omar's center, forecasters said.

"Omar would move through the northern Leeward Islands Wednesday night," the hurricane center said

A hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning were in effect Tuesday night for Puerto Rico. Hurricane warning were in effect for many other islands in the area.
 
The storm is generally expected to dump up to 8 inches of rain over some areas, with 12 inches possible in some areas, the hurricane center said.

Some portions of Puerto Rico could get up to 20 inches of rain and the storm could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, according to the forecast.

Also, the storm could produce large swells affecting the west- and south-facing coasts of the Lesser Antilles, of which the Leeward Islands are a part. The swells could cause beach erosion and damage coastal structures, the hurricane center said..

Omar is the 15th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.

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                                       Hurricane Omar taking aim at Caribbean islands






1 hour, 25 minutes ago
Yahoo News
Oct. 15, 2008
 
MIAMI - Hurricane Omar is gaining strength as it moves northeast, a day after drenching islands in the southeastern Caribbean.


 
Omar's maximum sustained winds early Wednesday were near 80 mph.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Omar is expected to continue gaining power over the next 24 hours. It could pass the threshold of 96 mph-winds for a Category 2 storm by the time it reaches the northern Leeward Islands late Wednesday.

Hurricane warnings have been issued for the U.S. Virgin islands, Puerto Rico's Vieques and Culebra islands and other islands in the region.

Meanwhile, a tropical depression is hugging the coast of Honduras. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the entire coast of Honduras.

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                                 Hurricane Omar batters Aruba, heads for US islands





By JUDI SHIMEL,
Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 15, 2008
 
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands - Omar strengthened into a hurricane late Tuesday and drenched islands in the southeastern Caribbean, downing trees and blowing off a school's roof as it menaced U.S. islands.
 
Authorities issued a hurricane warning for the U.S. Virgin islands as well as Puerto Rico's Vieques and Culebra islands. Hurricane warnings were also in place for St. Martin, the British Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis and other islands.

Officials in Puerto Rico, already soaked from several days of rain, warned residents to prepare for a lot more and medical authorities appealed for blood donations for possible casualties.

Omar was a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph (120 kph) winds, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami projected it to continue to gain strength.

The center predicted the storm would likely pass by Puerto Rico overnight Wednesday, and possibly deliver a direct blow to the nearby U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, business grew steadily at a St. Thomas supermarket Tuesday afternoon as people bought batteries, water and canned goods. Outside, rain fell as Darrell George tugged an overloaded shopping cart topped with a case of large water jugs.

"I try my best to get everything I need and my family needs, so I don't get caught with my pants down," George said. "With what has been going on lately, we can't take anything for granted."

Emergency management director Mark Walters urged islanders to take the warnings seriously.

"This is the time to take those precautions, in terms of getting your family and your personal selves ready for the storm," he said.

Classes and ferry services were canceled in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Several large trees in the Dutch island of Aruba toppled over because the ground was so saturated. The roof over a teachers' lounge and office at an Aruba school flew off. No injuries were reported.

The hurricane center said Omar was expected to plow over the Caribbean islands then head northeast toward the central North Atlantic, well away from the U.S. mainland.

At 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT) Tuesday, Omar's center was located about 315 miles (505 kilometers) south-southwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, according to the center. It was moving east-northeast at near 6 mph (9 kph).

A new tropical depression also formed Tuesday and was moving slowly off the coast of northeastern Honduras.

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                               Hurricane Omar gathers force in northeastern Caribbean






Wed Oct 15, 2008
 
MIAMI (AFP) - Hurricane Omar was churning toward the Virgin islands Wednesday gaining strength as authorities issued warnings across much of the northeastern Caribbean.
 
With its center 380 km (235 miles) southwest of St. Croix and about 375 km (235 miles) south-southwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the US National Hurricane Center warned at 1500 GMT: "additional strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours and Omar should be a Category 2 hurricane by the time it reaches the northern Leeward islands."

The hurricane -- packing maximum sustained winds of near 140 kilometers (85 miles) per hour -- was moving slowly northeast toward San Juan.

A hurricane warning was issued for the US Virgin Islands and islands of Vieques and Culebra, outlying isles of Puerto Rico.

Authorities also issues a hurricane warning, which means hurricane conditions are expected within 24 hours, for St. Martin -- the Caribbean's main air hub after Puerto Rico -- Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barthelemy, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla and St. Kitts a Nevis.

"Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the NHC said.

The storm was churning on its forward track about 15 km/hr (nine mph) "and this motion is expected to continue with a gradual increase in forward speed over the next day or two.

"On this track Omar is forecast to move through the northern Leeward islands (just east of Puerto Rico) late (Wednesday) and early Thursday," the NHC added.

"Omar is expected to produce total rainfall amounts of (10-20 cm) four to eight inches over portions of the Netherlands Antilles with maximum amounts of (30 cm) 12 inches possible. Rainfall amounts of (five-10 cm) two to four inches with maximum amounts of (15 cm) six inches are possible across extreme northwestern and north-central Venezuela and the northern Guajira peninsula. Total rainfall amounts of five-10 inches with maximum amounts up to 20 inches will be possible across Puerto Rico and the northern Leeward islands. These rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides," the NHC warned.

The busy 2008 hurricane season has included devastating Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which caused millions of dollars in damage in Haiti, Cuba and the United States.

Hurricanes and tropical storms have killed hundreds across the Caribbean and Mexico, with Haiti the worst hit.