Category 4 Hurricane Melissa Nears Jamaica With Forecasts Eyeing Category 5

Overview

• The National Hurricane Center says Melissa, now a Category 4 with 230 km/h winds, is expected to pass near or over Jamaica on Tuesday morning before reaching eastern Cuba late Tuesday and the southeast Bahamas on Wednesday.
• The storm is moving slowly at about 7–8 km/h, a pace forecasters say will prolong dangerous winds, flash flooding and landslides for days.
• Rainfall totals could reach 760 mm across Jamaica and southern Hispaniola with local maxima near 1,010 mm, and storm surge along some coasts could approach 2.4 meters.
• Officials report three deaths in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic with a 13-year-old missing, and they warn of infrastructure damage, power outages and isolated communities.
• Jamaica closed both international airports, opened more than 650 shelters and ordered evacuations in low‑lying areas, while Cuba issued hurricane alerts for four eastern provinces and the Dominican Republic moved thousands to safety.