Forecasters warn Tropical Storm Melissa, now in the Caribbean, could become a hurricane

By DÁNICA COTO, Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Melissa was stationary in the central Caribbean early Friday, with forecasters warning it could soon strengthen and brush past Jamaica as a powerful hurricane while unleashing potentially “catastrophic” flash flooding and landslides in southern Haiti.

The erratic storm was expected to drop copious rain on Jamaica and the southern regions of Haiti and the Dominican Republic through the weekend.

“The rainfall is a huge risk with the storm,” said Michael Brennan, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. “Rainfall has historically been the biggest cause of loss of life of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Caribbean.”

Early Friday, the storm was stationary about 165 miles (260 kilometers) southe