Massive Hurricane Melissa Makes Landfall in Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa made landfall Tuesday in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history, per the AP. The US National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of devastating flash flooding and numerous landslides from the hurricane with 185 mph winds. Forecasters warned that Melissa also was expected to make landfall in eastern Cuba late Tuesday or early Wednesday and then head toward the southeast Bahamas. It was not expected to affect the United States.

The slow-moving storm has killed at least three people in Jamaica, three people in Haiti, and a fourth person in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing. Before the storm made landfall, streets in the Jamaican capital of Kingston remained largely empty. The government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of the strongest hurricane to hit the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago. "There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5," Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. "The question now is the speed of recovery. That's the challenge."