Tropical Storm Melissa stationary in the Caribbean as 4 deaths reported and huge rains expected

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Melissa was nearly stationary in the central Caribbean on Friday as forecasters warned it could strengthen and swipe Jamaica as a powerful hurricane and dump a staggering amount of rain — up to 35 inches (89 centimeters) — on southwest Haiti, where they warned of catastrophic flooding and landslides.

The erratic storm was expected to drop copious rain on Jamaica and the southern regions of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. At least three people were killed in Haiti, and one person was killed and one reported missing in Dominican Republic.

“These heavy rains are just going to sit over one area for several days,” said Jamie Rhome, deputy director at the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The storm was located about 180 miles (290 kilometers) southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 245 miles (390 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph) and was moving northwest at 3 mph (6 kph), the U.S. center said.

A hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning were in effect for Jamaica and Haiti's southwest peninsula.

The center of Melissa is expected to move near or over Jamaica early next week, forecasters said.

Up to 25 inches (64 centimeters) of rain is forecast for parts of Jamaica, southern Haiti and the southern Dominican Republic through Tuesday. Up to 35 inches of rain is possible across Haiti's Tiburon Peninsula, the center said. That was considered an unusually high amount even for a slow-moving storm.

The storm is then forecast to hit eastern Cuba as a major hurricane early Wednesday, where up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) could fall in some areas.

The National Hurricane Center warned that “heavy rainfall will result in catastrophic flash flooding and landslides across southwestern Haiti into early next week.”

It noted that strong winds could also last for a day or more over Haiti's Tiburon peninsula.

Haiti's Civil Protection Agency said a landslide in Port-au-Prince killed two people and injured another, with the death toll rising to three. Earlier this week, a large tree fell on an elderly man in southern Haiti and killed him, while five other people in the country’s central region were injured in flooding,

The U.N. said it has prepared more than 100 emergency shelters in Haiti’s southern region.

Wilgar Joseph said he and his family were leaving their home in Les Cayes out of safety because it has a zinc roof.

“I’ll stay with a friend whose home is on higher ground so I can protect myself in case it gets out of control,” he said.

Meanwhile, thousands of people living in makeshift shelters across Port-au-Prince after gangs forced them to flee their homes worried about the storm.

“The message on the radio is to protect ourselves,” said Dina Georges. “How can I protect myself if I don’t have a home? I’m on the streets. And on top of that, I have two kids to protect.”

Nephtali Johnson Pierre, 35, echoed those sentiments: “I’m dealing with two storms: the gangs and the weather.”

Melissa was expected to move toward Jamaica over the weekend. It was forecast to strengthen into a hurricane by Saturday and become a major hurricane by Sunday, possibly reaching Category 4 status before dawn on Monday.

Forecasters said that Jamaica could see life-threatening flooding and landslides because the ground is already saturated from recent heavy rains unrelated to the storm.

The storm is moving so slowly that parts of Jamaica could experience hurricane conditions for 72 hours or longer, said Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather's lead hurricane expert.

“Melissa is evolving into a slow-motion disaster,” he said. "Millions of people are at risk of catastrophic impacts. We are increasingly concerned about the threat of a humanitarian disaster unfolding, especially if this storm stalls.”

Marcus Thompson, who lives in Kingston, said he covered his windows and stocked up on water and canned food.

“We’ve been through storms before, but it’s better to be prepared early this time,” he said.

Others checked their roofs, cleaned gutters and charged electrical devices.

“I moved my car to higher ground and gathered all essential documents just in case,” said Alton Williams, who lives in Mandeville.

In eastern Kingston, Veronica James said she was following updates and keeping her children informed.

“If officials decide evacuation is necessary, we have a small bag ready with medicine and important papers,” she said.

Schools, health centers and government offices closed across Jamaica on Thursday, with authorities warning that all airports would close within 24 hours if a hurricane warning is issued. More than 650 shelters were activated.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the storm's slow movement posed planning difficulties but noted the public sector would close by Friday afternoon.

“Jamaica is at risk,” he said. “There is a threat.”

The Bahamas' Foreign Affairs Ministry announced it would evacuate Bahamian students out of Jamaica on Friday ahead of the storm.

The storm has damaged nearly 200 homes in the Dominican Republic and knocked out water supply systems, affecting more than half a million customers. It also downed trees and traffic lights and unleashed a couple of small landslides.

All public schools across the Dominican Republic were closed Friday, as were government offices in 12 provinces under alert. More than two dozen communities were cut off by floodwaters.

“This is an event that we should be following minute by minute,” said Juan Manuel Méndez García, emergency operations director in the Dominican Republic.

Officials noted that evacuations in areas under alert were mandatory.

“The main thing here is to save lives. The risk is the enormous amount of rain," said Dominican President Luis Abinader.

Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted an above-normal season with 13 to 18 named storms.

Myers Jr. reported from Kingston, Jamaica and Sanon from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

People walk in a street flooded by rains caused by Tropical Storm Melissa in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)

People wade through a street flooded by rains caused by Tropical Storm Melissa in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)

This NOAA satellite image taken at 11:40 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, shows Tropical Storm Melissa in the Central Caribbean Sea. (NOAA via AP)

A woman holds a girl with an umbrella's hand during light rain in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

People place plastic tarps over their tents ahead of expected rain at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A state appeals court is being asked to dismiss felony voter misconduct charges against an Alaska resident born in American Samoa, one of numerous cases that have drawn attention to the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory.

In arguments Thursday, attorneys for Tupe Smith plan to ask the Alaska Court of Appeals in Anchorage to reverse a lower court's decision that let stand the indictment brought against her. Her supporters say she made an innocent mistake that does not merit charges, but the state contends Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship.

Prosecutors also have brought charges against 10 other people from American Samoa in the small Alaska community of Whittier, including Smith’s husband and her mother-in-law. American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by being born on American soil and instead are considered U.S. nationals. Paths to citizenship exist, such as naturalization, though that process can be expensive and cumbersome.

American Samoans can serve in the military, obtain U.S. passports and vote in elections in American Samoa, but they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections.

About 25 people gathered on a snowy street outside the courthouse before Thursday's hearing to support Smith. One woman, Fran Seager of Palmer, held a sign that said, “Support our Samoans. They are US nationals.”

Smith's husband, Michael Pese, thanked the American Samoa community in the Anchorage area. “If it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t be strong enough to face this head on,” he said.

State Sen. Forrest Dunbar, a Democrat who attended the rally, said the Alaska Department of Law has limited resources.

“We should be going after people who are genuine criminals, who are violent criminals, or at least have the intent to deceive,” he said. “I do not think it is a good use of our limited state resources to go after these hardworking, taxpaying Alaskans who are not criminals.”

Smith was arrested after winning election to a regional school board in 2023. She said she relied on erroneous information from local election officials when she identified herself as a U.S. citizen on voter registration forms.

In a court filing in 2024, one of her previous attorneys said that when Smith answered questions from the Alaska state trooper who arrested her, she said she was aware that she could not vote in presidential elections but was “unaware of any other restrictions on her ability to vote.”

Smith said she marks herself as a U.S. national on paperwork. But when there was no such option on voter registration forms, she was told by city representatives that it was appropriate to mark U.S. citizen, according to the filing.

Smith “exercised what she believed was her right to vote in a local election. She did so without any intent to mislead or deceive anyone,” her current attorneys said in a filing in September. “Her belief that U.S. nationals may vote in local elections, which was supported by advice from City of Whittier election officials, was simply mistaken.”

The state has said Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship. Prosecutors pointed to the language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which explicitly said that if the applicant was not at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, “do not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.”

The counts Smith was indicted on “did not have anything to do with her belief in her ability to vote in certain elections; rather they concerned the straightforward question of whether or not Smith intentionally and falsely swore she was a United States citizen,” Kayla Doyle, an assistant attorney general, said in court filings last year.

One of Smith's attorneys, Neil Weare, co-founder of the Washington-based Right to Democracy Project, said by email last week that if the appeals court lets stand the indictment, Alaska will be “the only state to our knowledge with such a low bar for felony voter fraud.”

Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.

Michael Pese and his wife, Tupe Smith, stand outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Michael Pese, left, his wife, Tupe Smith, and their son Maximus pose for a photo outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

FILE - Tupe Smith poses for a photo outside the school in Whittier, Alaska, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)