Hurricane Melissa is roaring toward Jamaica with destructive Category 4 winds and was expected to strengthen further before making landfall on the Caribbean nation with up to 30 inches of rain and a life-threatening storm surge.

Jamaica and other countries impacted by Hurricane Melissa will be getting help from organizations right here in South Florida.

The intensity of a hurricane is measured by its maximum sustained wind speed, and when that speed increases by at least 35 miles per hour in a 24-hour period — or roughly two categories on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale — meteorologists call that “rapid intensification.”

A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa barreled toward the island as a Category 4 storm on Sunday, October 26.According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the storm’s main threats would include “life-threatening and catastrophic” flash flooding,