Hurricane Melissa surged into a powerful Category 5 storm Monday morning, Oct. 27, and is forecast to have devastating impacts on islands in the northern Caribbean with even stronger winds in elevate...

Melissa is now a Category 3 hurricane and is expected to rapidly intensify over the next 24 hours, threatening catastrophic flooding in the northern Caribbean, including Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba.

Impacts in Cuba will be extreme due to 12-18 inches of rain and locally higher amounts to 2 to 3 feet, and wind gusts of 120-140 mph and locally higher bursts.