New Delhi, Oct. 28 -- Stalled seas, a tightening eye: Jamaica braces as Hurricane Melissa threatens catastrophic rain and surge while Hispaniola and Cuba race to move people out of harm's way.

Kingston, Jamaica - The water in the harbor rose before dawn like a quiet threat, a finger along the city's seawalls that turned to a fist by midday. Across the capital, shopfronts were crosshatched with plywood, zinc roofs cinched with rope and cinder blocks, and lines formed outside the last open hardware store for tarps and batteries. By evening, with streetlights flickering in gusts that bent the palms to a near right angle, Jamaicans braced for a once-in-a-century test as a vast and tightening gyre of wind and water closed the remaining distan...