FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
At least 3 people are considered the first victims of Hurricane Melissa, which moved rapidly northeast through the Caribbean Sea towards Jamaica.
Hurricane Melissa is expected to bring life-threatening conditions when the eye of the storm reaches the island nation.
The storm has already been blamed for three deaths in Jamaica and four deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Forecasters believe this could become the strongest hurricane to ever hit Jamaica, with winds reaching 290 km/h and up to 101 cm of rain.
Melissa was classified as a category five, the maximum strength, by the US-based National Hurricane Center early Monday.
Warnings are also in effect for Cuba and the southeastern Bahamas.
Meteorologist and storm tracker Matthew Cappucci told the BBC that Hurricane Melissa, a category five hurricane, will be the strongest to hit Jamaica since records began.
He says that in 1981 there was a hurricane, Gilbert, that killed 49 people in Jamaica and was a category three when it made landfall.
Melissa "could be an order of magnitude more significant" because hurricane strength doesn't grow linearly, it grows exponentially.
"No one in Jamaica has experienced anything comparable to what they are about to experience," Cappucci says.
He adds that, while category five storms do occur, they tend not to make landfall.
"It's extremely rare to have a category five impact anywhere on Earth."
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has ordered mandatory evacuations of low-lying areas as the island prepares for Hurricane Melissa, which is expected to make landfall.
Shelter-in-place orders are also in effect nationwide, and all public schools have moved online.
Two international airports, Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston and Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, have also closed, suspending all operations over the weekend.
The US-based group expects Jamaica to face 45 - 70 cm of rainfall, with heavy rains also expected in Cuba and the southeastern Bahamas.
As the hurricane hits Jamaica, destructive winds of up to 209 km/h are expected to cause power outages and isolate communities.
It's a similar story in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the southeastern Bahamas, with the hurricane center warning of life-threatening flash flooding and landslides.
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