KINGSTON — Hurricane Melissa weakened slightly to a still powerful Category 4 hurricane after making landfall in Jamaica Tuesday afternoon as the strongest-ever storm to directly hit the Caribbean nation of 2.8 million people.

Melissa made landfall near the town of New Hope, 62 km (39 miles) south of Montego Bay, packing maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory, well above the minimum strength of a Category 5 storm, the most powerful level on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

By 2000 GMT, it had weakened to 150 mph (241 kph), the NHC said.

The slow-moving storm is forecast to remain a powerful hurricane as it crosses the mountainous island, whose highland communities are vulnerable to landslides and flooding, and heads towards Santiago

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