Hurricane Melissa strengthens to Category 5
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Melissa is expected to strengthen from a tropical storm into a major hurricane this weekend, bringing “life-threatening and catastrophic” flash flooding and landslides to the Caribbean.
A Hurricane Watch covers the southeastern and central Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, while a Tropical Storm Warning remains active for Haiti and Cuba’s Las Tunas province. The NHC stressed that preparations to protect life and property should already be completed, as hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours.
TRACKING THE TROPICS Tropical Storm Melissa formed on Tuesday in the Caribbean and is expected to become a hurricane by the weekend. Here's the latest track:
Tropical Storm Melissa is nearly stationary in the central Caribbean, with forecasters warning it could soon strengthen and brush past Jamaica as a powerful hurricane
Haiti is expected to see catastrophic flash floods and landslides early next week causing “extensive infrastructural damage and potentially prolonged isolation of communities.” The southwestern peninsula of Haiti, from the border of the Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince, was placed under a hurricane watch and a tropical-storm warning.