The strongest storm to directly hit Jamaica before Melissa was Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, which made landfall as a category four hurricane, according to the US National Weather Service. Damaging winds and heavy rain have hit eastern Cuba, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center.

Melissa sets its sights on the Bahamas and Bermuda after its historic Category 5 landfall in Jamaica and major hurricane lashing in eastern Cuba. Here's the very latest forecast and recap, so far.

Hurricane Melissa is expected to become a Category 5 hurricane on its way to landfall in Jamaica, per the National Hurricane Center Sunday, Oct. 26.

Melissa underwent extreme rapid intensification, strengthening to a rare Category 5 with winds of 175 mph and stronger gusts, making it the strongest storm on the planet this year. Follow for live updates.

Heavy floodwaters swept across southwestern Jamaica, winds tore roofs off buildings and boulders tumbled into roads Tuesday as Hurricane Melissa came ashore.

A Sarasota County flight crew prepares to deliver relief supplies to Jamaica later this week as catastrophic Hurricane Melissa slams the island.

Hurricane Melissa has strengthened into a major Category 4 hurricane, with the possibility of intensifying to a Category 5 storm Sunday night, unleashing torrential rain and threatening to cause catastrophic flooding in the northern Caribbean,

Hurricane Melissa is expected to crash into Jamaica with a strength reserved for a tiny percentage of Atlantic hurricanes. A hurricane reaching Category 4 or 5 strength is quite a feat in itself. The two categories combined make up about 17 percent of all hurricanes in recorded history.