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Hur­ri­cane Melis­sa in­ten­si­fied to Cat­e­go­ry 5 strength Mon­day as it neared Ja­maica with up to 30 inch­es (76 cen­time­tres) of rain and a life-threat­en­ing storm surge.

Melis­sa is fore­cast to make land­fall on the is­land Tues­day and cross Cu­ba and the Ba­hamas through Wednes­day.

Melis­sa was cen­tred about 130 miles (205 kilo­me­ters) south-south­west of Kingston, Ja­maica, and about 315 miles (505 kilo­me­tres) south-south­west of Guan­tá­namo, Cu­ba, the U.S. Na­tion­al Hur­ri­cane Cen­ter in Mi­a­mi said.