Melissa to bring catastrophic flooding to Caribbean this weekend

Forecasters are warning of catastrophic flooding as Tropical Storm Melissa moves across the Caribbean this weekend.

Melissa is currently a tropical storm with winds at 65 mph, but it could become a major hurricane by Sunday, possibly reaching Category 3 or 4 strength.

Melissa is stalled over warm water in the Caribbean, which will fuel its growth this weekend. Sea surface temperatures in the area are in the mid-80s, several degrees above normal for this time of year.

The slow movement of the storm will allow feet of rain to fall over parts of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica, creating a risk of catastrophic flooding and mudslides.

Three people have already been killed—two from mudslides in Port-au-Prince and one by a falling tree in Marigot on Haiti's south coast.

Melissa is expected to start turning north early next week, but its path out of the Caribbean remains uncertain. It will probably cross over Cuba by midweek as it turns back out to sea, away from the U.S. mainland.

Melissa would be the fourth major hurricane of the season, which runs until the end of November. This hurricane season is expected to end near or above average, as we've already reached the average number of storms for a year, though the number of hurricanes is somewhat lower than forecast so far.