PHOENIX (AZFamily/AP) — Hurricane Melissa intensified into a Category 5 storm Monday as it drew closer to Jamaica, where forecasters expected it to unleash catastrophic flooding, landslides and widespread damage. At that strength, it would be the strongest hurricane to hit the island since record-keeping began in 1851.

The slow-moving storm has killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth person in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing. Two people died in Jamaica over the weekend as they cut trees ahead of the storm, and a third one died after being electrocuted.

More than 2,300 miles away from Jamaica in Phoenix, Gayle and Curtis Reid are paying close attention to the storm.

“I try to bring my son back every year. We try to go every year,” said Gayle.

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