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. The Jamaican government has ordered evacuations for parts of the capital, Kingston, and the entire island has been classed as "threatened". It has maximum sustained wind speeds of 165mph (270km/h) and could strengthen further in the next 12 to 24 hours, forecasters warned.

Melissa is expected to turn northward later on Monday or early on Tuesday. If it continues on the forecasted track, its core is expected "to move near or over Jamaica tonight and early Tuesday, across south-eastern Cuba Tuesday night, and across the south-eastern Bahamas on Wednesday". While forecasters say it is likely to fluctuate in strength in the coming hours, it is likely to reach Jamaica and south-eastern Cuba as "an extremely powerful major hurricane, and will still be at hurricane strength when it moves across the south-eastern Bahamas".  The storm is particularly slow moving, which makes it very dangerous in terms of expected rainfall amounts.According to the NHC, 40 inches of rain (100cm) are possible in parts of Jamaica over the next four days. (BBC)