Tropical Storm Melissa is lumbering through the Caribbean Sea and bringing a risk of dangerous landslides and life-threatening flooding to Jamaica and southern Hispaniola.

Melissa has already turned deadly across Haiti and the Dominican Republic, but AccuWeather meteorologists warn that the worst may be yet to come with the storm on track to intensify.

Unlike other storms in this hurricane season, Melissa is likely to have a devastating effect on some of the most populated islands in the Caribbean.

Tropical Storm Melissa has been pushing through the central Caribbean, with forecasters warning it could soon strengthen and brush past Jamaica as a powerful hurricane while unleashing potentially “catastrophic” flash flooding and landslides in southern Haiti.

A new tropical storm has formed over the central Caribbean. Melissa could strengthen later this week as it moves toward Haiti and Jamaica.

Tropical Storm Melissa formed in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday as forecasters warned that heavy rain and flooding could hit Haiti and Jamaica later this week.

Haiti has seen the first downpours of Hurricane Melissa, as the slow-moving Category 5 storm was on course to barrel into Jamaica on Monday (October 27), in what could be one of the strongest storms on record for the Caribbean island.