Hurricane Omar Strengthens to `Major' Storm Over Virgin Islands

By Brian K. Sullivan and Aaron Sheldrick

Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Omar strengthened to a ``major'' storm with winds of 120 miles (193 kilometers) per hour as it passed over the U.S. Virgin Islands, where a curfew was imposed and an oil refinery closed in St. Croix.

Hurricane warnings were in place in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the islands of Anguilla to the east, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. A hurricane warning means sustained winds of at least 74 miles per hour are expected within 24 hours.

Omar's winds increased to 120 mph by 1 a.m. Virgin Islands time today, from 115 mph two hours earlier, the center said in an advisory. U.S. Virgin Islands Governor John deJongh Jr. closed schools, dismissed non-essential government workers and ordered a curfew beginning at 6 p.m. local time yesterday, according to a statement.

``We will vigorously enforce this curfew as it is necessary that we clear the streets and avoid persons becoming injured by the effects of a tropical storm,'' Police Commissioner James McCall said in the statement on the governor's Web site.

The Public Works Department was distributing sandbags on all of the territory's islands.

The eye of Omar was 25 miles east-northeast of St. Croix and moving northeast at 20 mph.

Omar may bring as much as 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain to Puerto Rico and the northern Leeward Islands and 12 inches to the Netherlands Antilles, the center said. Those rains could produce ``life-threatening'' flash floods and mudslides, the advisory said.

Strengthening Possible

Omar is a category 3 storm, the third strongest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, meaning it has winds of between 111 mph and 130 mph.

``Additional strengthening is possible tonight as Omar moves through the northern Leeward Islands,'' the center said. ``Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.''

Tropical storm warnings, indicating winds of 39 mph to 73 mph are likely within a day, were in place in Puerto Rico, Antigua, Barbuda and Montserrat.

The island of St. Croix in the Virgin Islands is the site of the Hovensa oil refinery, the third-biggest in the Americas.

``Hovensa LLC is in the process of shutting down essentially all its processing and auxiliary equipment at the St. Croix refinery except those necessary to maintain supply of power to the complex,'' Alex Moorhead, a spokesman for the plant, said by telephone.

Causing Blackouts

The refinery handled 456,000 barrels a day in July, according to the latest U.S. Energy Department records. The U.S. mainland received 338,000 barrels a day of refined products from the plant. The refinery is owned by Hess Corp. of New York and the state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA.

Omar caused blackouts in Venezuela two days ago and halted shipping at Jose, one of the country's main oil terminals, Petroleos de Venezuela said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.

To the west, the center of a tropical depression moved inland over Honduras and may bring as much as 15 inches of rain, threatening flooding and landslides there and in Nicaragua, Belize, Guatemala and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the center said in an advisory.

Tropical Depression 16 was 40 miles south-southwest of Limon, Honduras, and moving west-southwest at 7 mph at 9 p.m. Honduras time yesterday. Its maximum sustained winds decreased to 30 mph.

``Little change in strength is forecast during the next 24 hours,'' the U.S. agency said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net; Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo at asheldrick@bloomberg.net.