Melissa, an “Extremely Powerful Major Hurricane,” Expected Toward Western Jamaica

The slow-moving but “extremely powerful major hurricane” Hurricane Melissa was projected to move toward Western Jamaica by Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.  The projected path of the storm would take it across southeastern Cuba on Tuesday night, and then across the southeastern or central Bahamas on Wednesday.  The storm began a northeasterly path on Tuesday evening, and was 55 miles southeast of Negril by Wednesday morning, moving northeastward at about 7 miles per hour. Maximum sustained winds were as high as 175 miles per hour — a category 5 storm that was expec