Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a Category 5 storm early Monday, unleashing torrential rain and threatening to bring catastrophic flooding to the northern Caribbean.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of "life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides" throughout Hispaniola.

Hurricane Melissa is now a Category 5 storm, capable of dumping catastrophic rainfall in addition to the powerful winds it's packing. The monster storm has begun to impact Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti, and it's expected to cause life-threatening problems for days during its slow crawl through the Caribbean.

Unfortunately, we are about see yet another demonstration of nature at its worst, but hopefully we can manage to follow that with a demonstration of humanity at its best.