New York [US], October 28: A slow-moving but deadly hurricane is inching towards Jamaica, threatening to unleash torrential rains and destructive winds on the Caribbean island.
With wind speeds of up to 165mph (270km/h), Hurricane Melissa was upgraded to a category five storm on Monday - the maximum strength. The storm is expected to make landfall in the early hours of Tuesday.
Authorities fear Melissa, which has already been blamed for the deaths of four people Haiti and the Dominican Republic, could become the strongest hurricane ever to hit Jamaica.
Meteorologists warn that Melissa's slow pace means it is set to dump torrential rain on affected areas for longer, increasing the risk of deadly flooding and landslides.
"This extreme rainfall potential, owing to the slow motion, is going to create a catastrophic event here for Jamaica," Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC), said.
The Jamaican government has ordered evacuations for parts of the capital, Kingston, and the entire island has been classed as "threatened".
An update from the NHC at 15:00GMT said that Melissa was about 145 miles (233km) southwest of Kingston, Jamaica. It was moving at just 3mph (6 km/h).
Damian Anderson, a 47-year-old teacher from the mountainous town of Hagley Gap in the south-east, said impassable roads had already cut off his community.
"We can't move. We're scared," he was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
Melissa could strengthen further in the next 12 to 24 hours, forecasters warned.
Metereologists say destructive winds and life-threatening storm surges are expected to hit Jamaica overnight on Monday or early on Tuesday.
If the hurricane continues on the forecasted track, its core will "move near or over Jamaica tonight and early Tuesday, across south-eastern Cuba Tuesday night, and across the south-eastern Bahamas on Wednesday" local time, the NHC said.
While forecasters say it is likely to fluctuate in strength in the coming hours, it is likely to reach Jamaica and south-eastern Cuba as "an extremely powerful major hurricane, and will still be at hurricane strength when it moves across the south-eastern Bahamas".
According to the NHC, 40 inches of rain (100cm) are possible in parts of Jamaica over the next four days.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation