With slow-moving Tropical Storm Melissa expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane as soon as Saturday as it churns towards Jamaica and southwest Haiti, the United Nations said Friday it's actively helping the Caribbean respond to any devastation.

Tropical Storm Melissa remains nearly stationary over the north-central Caribbean Sea, but signs point to strengthening in the coming days. While the storm is s

Tropical Storm Melissa dumped heavy rain on parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Wednesday as forecasters warned of a significant flood risk in parts of the northern Caribbean this week.

The southern peninsula of Haiti remains under a hurricane watch, and all of Jamaica is under a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning. Both countries are forecast to see a tremendous amount of rain, enough to potentially spawn life-threatening mudslides and flash flooding in Haiti and the island of Hispaniola.

Melissa has already killed three people in Haiti and Jamaica each and one person in the Dominican Republic. United Nations staff are preparing to deploy to Cuba and Jamaica this week as the region nervously awaits landfall of Hurricane Melissa.