The slow-moving, but punishing, Tropical Storm Melissa that has already killed four people is threatening catastrophic flooding across the northern Caribbean as it strengthens towards Jamaica.

Melissa is expected to become a major hurricane, possibly by later Saturday or Sunday, before making landfall across central Jamaica on Tuesday, with forecasters warning the system could dump up to 89 centimetres of rain (35 inches) across Haiti.

The storm’s crawling pace – moving at just 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) per hour on Friday – means Jamaica could endure hurricane conditions for more than 72 hours, while southwestern Haiti faces what forecasters describe as life-threatening flash flooding.

Three people have died in Haiti, including two killed in a landslide in Port-au-Prince and another st

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