India, Oct. 28 -- Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a powerful Category 5 storm on Monday (local time) as Jamaica braces to witness its potentially worst hurricane ever since record-keeping started in 1851.

Melissa's maximum sustained wind speed was 175 miles per hour (282 kilometers per hour), according to the US National Hurricane Center's latest update issued at 5 pm on Monday (New York time), reported Bloomberg.

The hurricane is expected to bring catastrophic flooding, landslides, and widespread devastation and is expected to make landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday before moving toward Cuba and the Bahamas later in the day, reported news agency Associated Press. It has already been blamed for seven deaths in the northern Caribbean as ...