Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba while authorities in Jamaica began surveying the extensive damage left in its wake.

Hurricane Melissa intensified to a Category 5 storm on Monday and continued to strengthen as it moved closer to Jamaica, where it was forecast to cause life-threatening flash flooding, landslides, and devastating damage to infrastructure. It arrived on the island’s southwestern coast around noon local time Tuesday.

Montego Bay's Sangster International Airport appears to have been destroyed when Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm.

At one point the family took pillows and blankets into the shower to put as many walls between themselves and the brutal weather as possible.

An isolated island in the Caribbean, Jamaica is no stranger to hurricanes. Hurricane Melissa is currently intensifying and inching closer to the Jamaica coast with the potential to cause catastrophic consequences.

For Rob Cuff and his wife Leah, their Jamaican honeymoon is coming to an uncertain end as Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to hit the Caribbean island in modern history, bears down. "I didn't sleep a lot last night as I kept an eye out to see if the storm was coming," Mr Cuff told the BBC from Montego Bay.

Turbulence got so bad that the Air Force Reserve's Hurricane Hunters were forced to cut short their daring trip and head back to base early.