Melissa is now a category 3 hurricane and is expected to rapidly intensify over the next 24 hours, threatening catastrophic flooding in the northern Caribbean, including Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba.
By late afternoon on Sunday AEDT, the hurricane was located about 450 kilometres from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometres per hour.
Melissa is now a category 3 hurricane.Credit: WeatherZone
The US Hurricane Centre said it was category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale and could make category 4. The slow-moving and erratic storm was expected to be a major hurricane when it makes landfall early this week.
“Life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides are expected in portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica into early next week,” the centre said in a statement.
Hurricane Melissa has killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth person in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.
The US Navy began evacuating hundreds of American citizens and their pets to Florida from the base at Guantanamo Bay on Sunday AEDT, days before the expected arrival in that portion of Cuba, The New York Times reported.
Heavy rain causes havoc in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from Melissa, then a tropical storm and now a category 3 hurricane.Credit: Ricardo Hernandez / AP
In Jamaica more than 650 shelters were activated. Officials said warehouses across the island were well stocked, and thousands of food packages were ready for quick distribution if needed.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said: “I urge Jamaicans to take this weather threat seriously. Take all measures to protect yourself.”
