Hurricane threatens Jamaica and Haiti

Residents urged to seek shelter as Melissa strengthens into a Category 4 storm.

- BY MAURICIO SAVARESE AND JOHN MYERS JR.

Hurricane Melissa has strengthened into a major Category 4 hurricane with the possibility of intensifying to a Category 5 storm, unleashing torrential rain and threatening to cause catastrophic flooding in the northern Caribbean, including Haiti and Jamaica, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The weather agency added that Melissa is likely to reach the southern coast of Jamaica as a major hurricane late Monday or Tuesday morning, and urged people on the island to seek shelter immediately.

"Conditions [in Jamaica] are going to go down rapidly today," Jamie Rhome, the center's deputy director, said Sunday. "Be ready to ride this out for several days."

Melissa on Sunday morning was centered about 110 miles south-southeast of Kingston, the Jamaican capital, and about 285 miles south-southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, near the site of a U.S. naval base.

It had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and was moving west at 5 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

Melissa was expected to drop torrential rains of up to 30 inches on Jamaica and southern Hispaniola - the island comprising Haiti and the Dominican Republic - according to the hurricane center. Some areas may see as much as 40 inches of rain.

It also warned that extensive damage to infrastructure, power and communication outages, and the isolation of communities in Jamaica were to be expected.