Watch live as Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica with catastrophic flooding expected.
Hurricane Melissa rapidly strengthened into a major Category 4 hurricane as it unleashed torrential rain in the northern Caribbean and threatened catastrophic flooding and landslides in Jamaica and southern Haiti.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to 140mph (220 km/h), the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Sunday (26 October).
The hurricane was located about 280 miles (450 km) from Guantanamo in Cuba, the NHC said.
Catastrophic flash flooding and landslides are probable across portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica, the NHC said.
Melissa is expected to be a major hurricane when making landfall in Jamaica Monday night or Tuesday morning and southeastern Cuba late Tuesday, the Miami-based forecaster added.
