Hurricane Melissa intensifies to Category 5 storm | News

MIAMI, Fla. (KVOA) – Hurricane Melissa has intensified into a Category 5 storm, posing a serious threat to the island nation of Jamaica. It is expected to make landfall on the island nation Tuesday morning. 

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami has issued warnings of catastrophic flash flooding, life-threatening landslides, and extremely strong winds.

Melissa is the most powerful storm to hit the region since Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.

It is forecasted to bring between 15 and 30 inches of rain to Jamaica, along with extreme winds, extensive infrastructure damage, and life-threatening storm surge along Jamaica’s southern coast.

Jamaican authorities are taking precautions by clearing beaches and shutting down the nation’s airports.

Melissa has already left a path of destruction across the Caribbean, resulting in the deaths of three people in Haiti and one person in the Dominican Republic.