By Dave Sherwood

KINGSTON/HAVANA (Reuters) -Hurricane Melissa began lashing Jamaica with violent gusts on Monday as the U.S. National Hurricane Center upgraded it to a Category 5 storm packing sustained winds of 165 mph, the largest on record to slam into the Caribbean island.

Cuba, the eastern Bahamas and Turks and Caicos also lie in the expected path of the storm, which will make its way north and east towards Bermuda later this week.

The hurricane is expected to stay well offshore of the United States, bringing only rough surf and minor coastal flooding to the U.S. East Coast.

On Monday at midday (1600 GMT), Melissa was still 145 miles (230 km) southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 330 miles (530 km) southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, according to the NHC in Miami.

The hurricane wa

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