Tropical Storm Omar grows in Caribbean

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Omar grew quickly to near-hurricane strength on Tuesday, threatening Puerto Rico and the small islands of the northeastern Caribbean with flash floods as a new tropical system churned off Central America.

Omar, the 15th tropical storm of the Atlantic season, formed north of the Netherlands Antilles island of Curacao and revved up over warm Caribbean waters to a 70-mile-per-hour (113-km per hour) cyclone, just under the threshold for a hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Omar could be a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale, with winds of at least 96 mph, by the time it reaches the northern islands, forecasters said.

The storm knocked out power to some units at Venezuela's 200,000 barrel-per-day Puerto La Cruz refinery and forced authorities to suspend tanker movements at the facility's port, the state oil company said.

Hurricane alerts were posted for Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and other islands including Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy.

Omar was about 345 miles south-southwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, or 120 miles north-northeast of Curacao, by 5 p.m. EDT, the Miami-based center said.

NO DEATHS, INJURIES REPORTED

On the small tourist island, which is north of Venezuela, trees and lampposts were knocked down, power was out in some areas and stores in the capital closed due to flooding. Residents reported seeing waves up to 16 feet high.

There were no reports of deaths or injuries and local meteorologists said the weather was set to improve.

Omar was moving on a track that would take it over the northern Leeward Islands on Wednesday night. Forecasters said it could produce up to 20 inches of rain, which could trigger life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.

While Omar menaced Puerto Rico, a tropical depression developed just off Honduras.

The 16th depression of the season, which would be called Paloma if it strengthened into a tropical storm, was expected to come ashore somewhere between eastern Honduras and Belize.

Forecasters expected it to become a tropical storm but not a hurricane before landfall. It does not appear to present a threat to the U.S. mainland or the Gulf of Mexico oil fields.

Former Tropical Storm Nana, which developed on Sunday between the Cape Verde Islands and the Caribbean, dissipated on Tuesday after being torn apart by atmospheric winds.

The 2008 hurricane season has been busy and has six more weeks to go before it officially ends on November 30. An average season spawns 10 storms, of which six grow into hurricanes.

So far this year, Hurricane Gustav slammed ashore near New Orleans, the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Hurricane Ike hit Houston. Both threatened the oil rigs off the U.S. Gulf Coast that supply a quarter of U.S. domestic oil.

In Haiti, more than 800 people were killed after the impoverished Caribbean nation was swamped by Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike. Cuba suffered $5 billion in damages after being raked by Gustav and Ike.

(Reporting by Michael Christie in Miami and Irasi Jimenez in Willemstad, Curacao; Editing by Xavier Briand)