Hurricane Melissa intensified into a Category 5 storm Monday as it drew closer to Jamaica, where forecasters expected it to unleash catastrophic flooding, landslides and widespread damage. At that strength, it would be the strongest hurricane to hit the island since record-keeping began in 1851.

Blamed for seven deaths in the northern Caribbean as it headed toward the island, Melissa was on track to make landfall Tuesday in Jamaica before coming ashore in Cuba later in the day and then heading toward the Bahamas. It was not expected to affect the United States.

Anticipating the hardship in store for his country, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, “I have been on my knees in prayer.”

Hanna Mcleod, a 23-year-old hotel receptionist in the Jamaican capital of Kingston, said she boarded up the windows at her home, where her husband and brother are staying. She stocked up on canned corned beef and mackerel and left candles and flashlights throughout the house.

“I just told them to keep the door closed,” she said. “I am definitely worried. This is actually the first time I’ll be experiencing this type of hurricane.”

Category 5 is the top of the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, with sustained winds exceeding 157 mph (250 kph). Melissa would be the strongest hurricane in recorded history to directly hit the small Caribbean nation, said Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather.

A storm surge of up to 13 feet (4 metres) was expected along coastal Kingston, which Porter said is home to critical infrastructure such as Jamaica’s main international airport and power plants.

“This can become a true humanitarian crisis very quickly, and there is likely going to be the need for a lot of international support,” Porter said in a phone interview.

System has winds of 281 km/h

On Monday afternoon, Melissa was centered about 145 miles (230 kilometres) southwest of Kingston and about 325 miles (525 kilometres) southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba. The system had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 3 mph (5 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Parts of eastern Jamaica could see up to 30 inches (76 centimetres) of rain while western Haiti could get 16 inches (40 centimetres), the hurricane center said, citing the likelihood of “catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides.”

Mandatory evacuations were ordered in flood-prone communities in Jamaica, with buses ferrying people to safe shelter.

But some insisted on staying.

“I hear what they say, but I am not leaving,” said Noel Francis, a 64-year-old fisherman who lives on the beach in the southern town of Old Harbor Bay, where he was born and grew up. “I can manage myself.”

His neighbour, Bruce Dawkins, said he also had no plans to leave his home.

“I am not going anywhere,” Dawkins said, wearing a raincoat and holding a beer in his hand. The fisherman said he had already secured his vessel and planned to ride out the storm with his friend.

Several towns along Jamaica’s southern coast already reported power outages as winds picked up throughout the night.

“My only concern is flooding, because we live near the sea,” said Hyacinth White, 49, who said she had no plans to evacuate to a shelter.

Officials said the biggest storm surge was expected in the Black River community in western Jamaica, where Sandra Walker was the sole street vendor working just hours ahead of the hurricane.

“I have no choice but to be here,” she said as she sorted potatoes, green bananas, tomatoes and scallion stalks in her stall.

Walker, a single mother of two, is still struggling to recover after Hurricane Beryl destroyed her business and home last year. She lives by the ocean but does not plan to go to a shelter because she had a “terrible” shelter experience during Hurricane Ivan, when the facility offered only a handful of tins of corned beef to share.

Jamaican government officials said they were worried that fewer than 1,000 people were in the more than 880 shelters open across the island.

“It’s way, way below what is required for a Category 5 hurricane,” said Daryl Vaz, Jamaica’s transport minister, who urged people “to be smart ... If you are not, unfortunately, you will pay the consequences.”

Storm could be most powerful to hit Jamaica in 174 years

The slow-moving storm has killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth person in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing. Two people died in Jamaica over the weekend as they cut trees ahead of the storm.

“It’s nothing to play with,” said Water and Environment Minister Matthew Samuda. “The time for preparation is all but over.”

More than 50,000 customers were without power. Landslides, fallen trees and downed power lines were reported ahead of the storm.

In eastern Cuba, a hurricane warning was in effect for Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Holguin provinces, while a tropical storm warning was in effect for Las Tunas. Up to 20 inches (51 centimetres) of rain were forecast for parts of Cuba, along with a significant storm surge along the coast.

Cuban officials said they would evacuate more than 600,000 people from the region, including Santiago, the island’s second-largest city. Long bus lines formed in some areas.

Later, Melissa was forecast to barrel through the southeastern and central Bahamas, which were under a hurricane warning. A tropical storm warning was issued for the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Evan Thompson, principal director at Jamaica’s meteorological service, warned that cleanup and damage assessment would be severely delayed because of anticipated landslides, flooding and blocked roads.

A storm of Category 4 or higher has not made landfall in Jamaica in 174 years of record-keeping. Hurricane Gilbert was a Category 3 storm when it hit the island in 1988. Hurricanes Ivan and Beryl were both Category 4, but they did not make landfall, Thompson said.

Drenching rain in the Dominican Republic and Haiti

The storm already has drenched the Dominican Republic, where schools and government offices were ordered to remain closed on Monday in four of nine provinces still under red alert.

Melissa damaged more than 750 homes across the country and displaced more than 3,760 people. Floodwaters also have cut access to at least 48 communities, officials said.

In neighbouring Haiti, the storm destroyed crops in three regions, including 15 hectares (37 acres) of maize at a time when at least 5.7 million people, more than half of the country’s population, are experiencing crisis levels of hunger.

“Flooding is obstructing access to farmland and markets, jeopardizing harvests and the winter agricultural season,” the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization said.

Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.