Tropical Storm Melissa lumbered through the Caribbean Sea on Thursday, bringing a risk of dangerous landslides and life-threatening flooding to Jamaica and southern Hispaniola — an island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Officials urged residents in flood-prone areas to seek higher ground.

The slow-moving storm was centred about 345 kilometers southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 440 kilometers southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It had maximum sustained winds of 80 km/h and was moving northwest at 7 km/h, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

A hurricane watch was in effect for Jamaica and the southwestern peninsula of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Jamaica.

“The storm has been

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