The storm is expected to bring destructive winds and life-threatening and catastrophic flooding and landslides to Jamaica, forecasters say.

Hurricane Melissa is set to bring catastrophic winds, flooding and storm surge to Jamaica, forecasters have warned.

According to the National Hurricane Center's 11 a.m. Tuesday advisory, Category 5 Hurricane Melissa is in the Caribbean Sea, 40 miles southeast of Negril Jamaica and 235 miles southwest of Guantanamo Cuba. With maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, the hurricane is moving to the north-northeast at 9 mph.

Jamaica is expected to be in the storm's eyewall, which refers to the band of dense clouds surrounding the eye of the hurricane. The eyewall generally produces the fiercest winds and heaviest rainfall, according to Deanna Hence, a professor of climate, meteorology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.