Hurricane Melissa rapidly strengthened into a major Category 3 hurricane as it unleashed torrential rain in the northern Caribbean and threatened catastrophic flooding and landslides in Jamaica and southern Haiti .

U.S. forecasters warned that the slow-moving Melissa is expected to strengthen further and be a major hurricane when making landfall in Jamaica early next week. It should be near or over Cuba by the middle of the week.

“I urge Jamaicans to take this weather threat seriously,” said Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness. “Take all measures to protect yourself.”

Melissa was centered about 125 miles south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 280 miles west-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, late Saturday night. It had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph and was moving

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