By-Vanessa Buschschlüter
People in Jamaica are bracing for the impact of Hurricane Melissa, which is forecast to unleash destructive winds and bring catastrophic flooding to the Caribbean nation in the coming hours.
Melissa was upgraded to a category five hurricane – the maximum strength – early on Monday, the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
The authorities fear that Melissa, which has already been blamed for the deaths of four people on the island of Hispaniola, could become the strongest hurricane ever to hit Jamaica.