Hurricane Melissa was only hours away Tuesday from expected landfall on Jamaica, bringing devastating flooding and winds that officials warn will smash the small Caribbean nation's infrastructure.

Evacuations were underway as the slow-moving Category 5 storm -- potentially the biggest ever to hit Jamaica -- crept forward.

Four deaths -- three in Jamaica and one in Haiti -- have already been blamed on the deteriorating conditions but officials were concerned that many people were ignoring pleas to get to safety.

In the worst-hit areas, said Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, "I don't believe there is any infrastructure within this region that could withstand a Category 5 storm."

"For Jamaica it will be the storm of the century so far," Anne-Claire Fontan, at the World Meteorologica

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