Jamaicans and tourists, including many vacationing Canadians, are bracing for gale-force winds, catastrophic flooding and a surge in sea levels ahead of Hurricane Melissa , expected to make landfall Tuesday as one of the worst storms in the country’s history.

But the concerns about the destructive potential of the Category 5 storm stretch beyond the borders of the small Caribbean country, which holds a strong diaspora of nearly 150,000 in Toronto.

“We have no idea what Jamaica will look like after,” David Betty, the president of the Jamaican Canadian Association, told the Star. “We’re beyond believing that we’re going to escape this. We’re almost certain that it’s going to make landfall and that it’s going to be devastating.”

The U.S. Defense Department has released footage of views

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