By Abdullahi Lukman
Tropical Storm Melissa has intensified into a hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) as it moves toward Jamaica, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced on Saturday.
Forecasters warned that the system could rapidly strengthen into a major hurricane by Sunday, bringing life-threatening floods and landslides across the northern Caribbean.
Melissa has already claimed at least four lives — three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic — while another person remains missing.
Two Haitians died in a landslide on Thursday, and a third was killed earlier in the week when a tree fell during heavy rainfall.
In the Dominican Republic, nearly 200 homes have been destroyed and water supply to more than half a million residents has been disrupted.
As of Saturday afternoon, the hurricane was located about 235 miles (380 kilometers) southwest of Haiti, moving slowly toward Jamaica.
The NHC warned that torrential rain is expected to lash Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic through Monday, with southeast Cuba also forecast to receive up to 20 centimeters of rain.
Officials have cautioned residents about the potential for catastrophic flooding and landslides in vulnerable areas.
Melissa is the 13th named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has forecast an above-normal season, with between 13 and 18 named storms.
Scientists attribute the increasing intensity and frequency of such extreme weather events to global warming driven by human fossil fuel use.