Hurricane Melissa, an intense Category 5 storm, threatened to bring catastrophic winds, heavy rainfall, flash floods and landslides as it tracked through the northern Caribbean and neared landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday. Melissa was then forecast to cross Cuba and the Bahamas through Wednesday.

A second landfall is forecast for early Wednesday morning in eastern Cuba. While slight weakening may occur due to terrain interaction, Melissa is expected to remain a strong storm near Category 4 intensity.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that “life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides [are] expected in portions of Jamaica and southern Hispaniola through midweek....”

The two categories combined make up about 17 percent of all hurricanes in recorded history. Those reaching Category 5 — like Melissa — historically make up more like 4 percent of hurricanes. And fewer than half of the strongest two categories of hurricanes go on to hit land at such intensity.