Hurricane Melissa strengthened into one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history as it crawled toward Jamaica, where officials and residents braced for catastrophic winds, flash flooding and landslides.

“This has been a rapid intensification hurricane,” says Dr. Chloe Brimicombe, a climate scientist based in the UK.

She said the storm’s slow movement was compounding its impact, bringing both extreme winds and intense rainfall.

The Jamaican government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of devastating damage from the strongest hurricane to hit the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago.

Dr. Brimicombe says that storms typically veer north of Jamaica, making this direct track across the island rare and dangerous.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami warned people in the storm’s path as landfall neared Tuesday morning that this was the “last chance to protect your life.”

Landslides, fallen trees and numerous power outages were reported ahead of the storm, with officials cautioning that cleanup and damage assessment would be slow. The storm is expected to enter near St. Elizabeth parish in the south and exit around St. Ann parish in the north, forecasters said.

On Tuesday morning, Melissa was centered about 40 miles (60 kilometers) south-southeast of Negril, Jamaica, and about 235 miles (380 kilometers) southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba. The system had maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 kph) and was moving north-northeast at 9 mph (15 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

Brimicombe says the storm’s formation fits a wider global pattern.

"We're increasingly observing these rapidly intensifying storms," she says.

"This trend is more likely due to climate change, so we should be concerned because all these hurricane-prone regions are more likely to experience similar storms in the future. It could also mean we might see even more intense storms, which is something communities need to prepare for. This is the strongest storm this year, but in the future, it could be one of many storms of this strength in a single year, which is really concerning."