(Reuters) -Tropical Storm Melissa has strengthened into a hurricane and is expected to become a major hurricane by the end of the weekend, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Saturday.

Hurricane Melissa is located about 235 miles (380 km) southwest of Port-au-Prince in Haiti, packing maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 km/h), the NHC said in its latest advisory.

A hurricane warning is in place for Jamaica, and the NHC said life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides are expected in portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica into early next week.

The center of Melissa is expected to move near or over Jamaica during the weekend and early next week, the NHC said, adding that it could be near or over eastern Cuba by the middle of next week.

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