title: Hurricane Irma to move over portions of Virgin Islands soon: NHC
text: (Reuters) - The eye of potentially catastrophic category 5 Hurricane Irma is closing in on the Virgin Islands, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory on Wednesday. Hurricane Irma is about 140 miles (225 km) east of San Juan Puerto Rico, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), the Miami-based weather forecaster said.  The extremely dangerous core of Irma will move over portions of the Virgin Islands very soon, pass near or just north of Puerto Rico this afternoon or tonight,  the NHC said. Irma will pass near or just north of the coast of the Dominican Republic Thursday, and be near the Turks and Caicos and southeastern Bahamas late Thursday, it added. 