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.

Canada has issued a serious travel warning advising Canadians to avoid travelling to Jamaica due to safety issues.

Melissa is currently a slow-moving tropical storm that is expected to rapidly intensify to a major hurricane—a brutal combination will drench Jamaica and other Caribbean islands

Jamaica issued a Hurricane Watch and Tropical Storm Warning Thursday morning. The island nation is expected to see hurricane conditions, including life-threatening flash flooding, from Tropical Storm Melissa beginning Friday afternoon.

Melissa is expected to significantly strengthen by late Friday and over the weekend, when the storm could become a hurricane as early as Saturday.

A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch remain in effect as Tropical Storm Melissa moves slowly across the Caribbean Sea south-southeast of Jamaica. This means tropical storm conditions are a possible threat to Jamaica within 36 hours and hurricane conditions are likely to pose a threat within 48 hours.

Tropical Storm Melissa is expected to bring days of heavy rain to the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica and may trigger life-threatening flash flooding, the National Hurricane Center says.

A man was fatally wounded in a shooting Wednesday near a public housing development in Jamaica Plain, police said. Officers responded to reports of a shooting on Saint Rose Street shortly before 6 p.m., said Sergeant Detective John Boyle, a police department spokesperson.