A strengthening Melissa grew in a Category 4 hurricane, unleashing torrential rain and threatening to cause catastrophic flooding in the northern Caribbean, including Haiti and Jamaica, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The weather agency added Melissa is likely to reach the southern coast of Jamaica as a major hurricane late Monday or Tuesday morning, and urged people on the island to seek shelter immediately.

As of 11 p.m. Sunday, Melissa was producing maximum sustained winds of 145 mph, making it a category 4 hurricane. The storm was located 125 miles south of Kingston, Jamaica and inching west at 5 mph. The latest satellite images show a well-defined eye wall.

“Conditions (in Jamaica) are going to go down rapidly today,” Jamie Rhome, the center’s deputy director, said on Sund

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