Melissa became a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph while moving west at 3 mph and positioned about 125 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 280 miles west-southwest of Port Au Prince, Haiti, the National Hurricane Center reported in its 11 p.m. EDT update.
Melissa became a hurricane at 9 a.m. EDT wth sustained winds of 70 mph.
The storm continues to gain strength and could cause life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides in parts of Southern Hispaniola and Jamaica into early next week.
Accuweather Meteorologist Alex Duffus warned that entire communities could be cut off from aid and support for several days.
“Melissa’s slow movement over the mountainous islands greatly increases the risk of catastrophic flash flooding and deadly mudslides,” Duffus said. “This can quickly escalate into a humanitarian crisis, where a large number of