Hurricane Melissa maintained its powerful Category 4 strength on Sunday as it drifted slowly toward Jamaica, forecast to bring “catastrophic” flash flooding and landslides to the Caribbean nation.

Hurricane Melissa has intensified into a Category 4 hurricane, and could develop further to become a Category 5 as it approaches Jamaica, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The hurricane was expected to drop torrential rains of up to 76 centimetres on Jamaica and southern Hispaniola — Haiti and the Dominican Republic — according to the hurricane centre.