CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) -- Hurricane Omar is gaining strength quickly and is now a major Category 3 storm with top winds of 120 miles-per-hour.
Forecasters say it will likely blow between the Virgin Islands and territories including Anguilla. Jack Beven of the National Hurricane Center says it could "thread the needle" and miss making a direct hit on any Caribbean island. But he adds, "any kind of track deviation" and one those islands could be "clobbered.
Omar's center edged past St. Croix late Wednesday. Emergency officials says some residents were denied evacuation requests because responders were pinned down by the storm.
The storm is following an unusual southwest-to-the-northeast track toward the central North Atlantic, well away from the U.S. mainland.
Omar has forced at least three cruise ships to divert course.
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