Omar strengthens into Category 2 hurricane

MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Omar strengthened into a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity on Wednesday as it headed toward Puerto Rico and the small islands of the northeastern Caribbean, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The storm had sustained winds of 105 mph as it churned about 80 miles south-southwest of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Miami-based hurricane center said.

(Reporting by Jim Loney, editing by John O'Callaghan)