Melissa, national hurricane center and Tropical Storm
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At 8 a.m. Saturday, the National Hurricane Center issued an advisory stating that Tropical Storm Melissa is in the Caribbean Sea, 160 miles southeast of Kingston Jamaica and 235 miles southwest of Port Au Prince Haiti. The system, with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, is moving west-northwest at 1 mph.
The storm is expected to hit Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as Cuba, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos.
Melissa is currently the only active tropical system in the Atlantic basin. As of Friday night, the storm remains nearly stationary, drifting north at just 2 mph. Maximum sustained winds are around 65 mph—just below the 75 mph threshold needed to reach Category 1 hurricane status.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of "life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides" throughout Hispaniola.
Hurricane Melissa threatens to make a direct strike on Jamaica as the most powerful storm in its history. See how strong it will become and where it’s headed.