Hurricane Omar moves through northern Caribbean

Hurricane Omar weakened Thursday as it quickly moved away from the Caribbean through the northern Leeward Islands without causing major damage.

The powerful core of the storm, with the most intense winds, passed overnight between St. Martin and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, said Lixion Avila, a hurricane specialist with the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

“It could have been worse,” Avila said. “They were very, very lucky.”

A last-minute shift to the east spared St. Croix, the most populated of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which received just a glancing blow from the weaker side of the system.

Omar knocked down trees, caused some flooding and minor mudslides, but there were no immediate reports of deaths or major damage in the U.S. Virgin Islands, said Mark Walters, director of the disaster management agency for the U.S. Caribbean territory.