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Tropical Storm the storm is forecast to strengthen into a rare highest-level storm as it veers towards the Caribbean island, delivering life-threatening rapid inundation and landslides.

The hurricane, which had winds of up to 195 km/h as of 0600 Greenwich Mean Time, is now shifting northwest in the Caribbean region and is expected to reach land by Tuesday, based on data from hurricane specialists.

Advisories of electricity outages and structural damage have been issued as the hurricane brings up to thirty inches of rain and sea level surges as high as thirteen feet above normal levels. "Find safe refuge immediately," inhabitants have been advised.

The cyclone is the 13th named hurricane in the ongoing Atlantic season, which typically ends in November.

Category Five Hurricane Danger

A Category 5 storm is the strongest type, with sustained winds of at least 252 km/h.

Even though Melissa is expected to reduce in intensity to a Category 4 cyclone before making landfall on the island, meteorologists said there was "very little practical difference in the overall impacts" upon reaching the coast, and that the cyclone will be "just as powerful" when it hits the nation.

Urgent Safety Steps

With tropical storm-strength wind and rainfall predicted to begin long before it crosses central Jamaica - including potentially the national capital - alerts state that "preparations should be rushed to completion".

"Several days of harmful winds and heavy rainfall are underway and will cause devastating and dangerous flash flooding and many rock slides," advised climate experts.

Jamaican Prime Minister the statesman stated: "I know that there are numerous residents who are anxious, who are extremely apprehensive, and with good reason: worry is natural.

"Yet the optimal approach to address worry and any nervousness and worry is to remain prepared."

Residents are being told to secure their homes with sandbags and timber panels, and to gather necessary supplies.

Broader Consequences

Alerts are also active for areas in the neighboring country such as the primary urban center, the adjacent nation and the eastern part of Cuba, where this storm is anticipated to bring similar effects by the middle portion of the coming week.

Rock slides presently generated by the cyclone have already killed two in Haiti, according to local authorities.

Future Path

Melissa is projected to cross Cuba by midweek before traveling via the Greater Antilles and emerging into the Atlantic Ocean.

By the point it makes contact with the Caribbean nation, it is forecast to have diminished to a third-level hurricane.

Weather Background

While it is hard to connect individual weather events to environmental shifts, researchers say it is making climate patterns more common and more intense.

Warmer oceans generate additional humidity in the air, aiding in the creation of hurricanes.

Before the beginning of this year's Caribbean cyclone season, weather organizations projected above-normal activity, citing elevated ocean temperatures and potential more intense weather patterns around West Africa - where hurricanes often form.