Hurricane Melissa weakened slightly to a still powerful Category 4 hurricane after making landfall in Jamaica Tuesday afternoon (October 28) as the strongest-ever storm to directly hit the Caribbean nation of 2.

The National Hurricane Center is tracking a tropical wave in the central Atlantic which is moving quickly toward the Caribbean. There also is a non-tropical system over the northwestern Atlantic — well away from Florida — that may develop into a tropical or subtropical storm over the next several days, according to AccuWeather.

Roughly 1,000 military personnel and families have been flown to Pensacola ahead of the Category 4 storm that has killed at least seven people in Jamaica.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is monitoring a tropical wave for the possibility of tropical development in the Atlantic Ocean.

Rainfall. Melissa is expected to bring an additional 4 to 8 inches across Jamaica, where storm total amounts will be between 12 to 24 inches. Isolated areas near 30 inches will be possible over mountainous terrain. Ongoing catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides will continue through Tuesday night.