Hurricane Melissa, now a Category 5 system and the strongest storm anywhere in the world this year, is barreling toward Jamaica with sustained winds nearing 280 km/h, threatening catastrophic flooding, landslides and coastal storm surges across the Caribbean. The US national hurricane center (NHC) said the storm, which underwent explosive intensification over the weekend, has become a “potentially catastrophic” cyclone as it inches closer to the island’s southern coastline. By late Monday, Melissa was located roughly 200 km south-southwest of Kingston, moving slowly westward at about 5 kilometres per hour - a sluggish pace that forecasters warn will amplify rainfall and prolong destructive winds over Jamaica and neighbouring islands. The system has already lashed parts of Haiti and t

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