Hurricane Emily Upgraded to Category 3

The National Hurricane Center upgraded Hurricane Emily to a dangerous Category 3 storm, and Jamaica issued a hurricane watch for the island nation Thursday.

The Dominican Republic and Haiti issued a tropical storm warning for much of the island they share. A tropical storm warning is in effect for Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba.

At 4 p.m. EDT, the center of Hurricane Emily was located about 445 miles southeast of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The storm was moving toward the west-northwest at about 21 mph.

Maximum sustained winds were near 115 mph with higher gusts, and were increasing, the National Hurricane Center said.

The second hurricane of the season was expected to produce total rain accumulations of 2 to 4 inches across portions of the Netherlands Antilles and 3 to 6 inches over portions of Hispaniola.

Forecasters said the rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.